Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Influence: More on Gustav Vigeland...

I discussed the influence of Gustav Vigeland a while back, and I wanted to continue. I originally was drawn to Vigeland due to his use of structural compositions that utilize the figures as a way to build broad configurations (like my drawings, and the sculpture above). Now, another aspect of his work that I'm beginning to appreciate is his use of dynamic, yet truthful, expressive poses that create intimate and subtle relationships between his characters (in my experience, dynamism often relies on exaggeration and not truthful representation). He's a master at rendering multiple characters, and this is even more evident when he's dealing with only two or three. He renders every character with severe emotion within the context of the other character. This sculpture above is so beautiful, i have no words... the only thing that comes to mind is... truth , clarity, strength, humanity and love. At first I was so impressed with his use of structure and weight that I didn't register the emotional content (a product of the differences in my own life, then and now, i guarantee). I can't wait to visit Norway and see these sculptures!