#444 In the studio: "Pigmalion"

No aspect of animal sculpture seems as misunderstood than the artist's deliberate humanization of an animal.
How often one hears, "Isn't that animal cute?" or "Look at the adorable expression on that critter's face."  Yes,
an animal can seem cute and adorable, and certainly, the goal of the artist is to evoke an emotional response.
However, the artist who truly knows the animal will avoid sentimentalism and the purposeful exploitation of emotion
by refraining from humanizing the creatures's expression.

The artist's dilemma can be confusing because the chosen gesture may be dignified, clumsy, intelligent, humorous, powerful, and so on . . . all adjectives that are associated with humans and all subjective!  What artist is not flattered when the viewer says "that animal has personality!" . . .  I certainly am!  At the risk of contradicting myself,
I've decided that whimsy should override sentimentalism!

Below is a closeup of a recent sculpture entitled Pigmalion.
It is a variation of an earlier, wildly popular work, entitled Eat More Beef.  

When the sculptor makes unbiased design decisions about what is considered important about the subject, 
when the artist is in touch with the reason or motive for sculpting the creature, 
when truths are understood about the animal, only then can the sculpture come to life.

Below are two images of Pigmalion in progress.

Below is Pigmalion cast in bronze.

Throughout the centuries, the pig has been defamed, insulted, and condemned as morally and physically unworthy, filthy, and stupid.  It's been my best selling subject.

All sculpture - copyright Sandy Scott