Sculpting with color

A year ago, I started working with clay. I even took a few classes. However, I didn’t take it at all seriously. I just felt like sculpting something.

Sculpting with clay, I find, is highly absorbing. As soon as you realize that there are no limits to what your hands can create, you get sucked in. My paintings would be left alone, awaiting my return, while I would delight in working on three-dimensional creations. The things I’ve finished so far can be found at the Distillery District right now – the rest, including the doll, will be seen during the tour.

I know exactly where my yearning for sculpting comes from. As a child, I’d seen Degas’s “Little Dancer” in Moscow. Later on, they brought that piece to Toronto, along with his other sculptures. (Actually, some of them were molded from their wax forms after the artist’s death. Since he didn’t consent to it, did they really have the right to do that? That’s a bit of an ethical nuance.) Also, I couldn’t avoid admiring the sculptures of Anish Kapoor. That was love at first sight. His works are like breath – there are no bends or excesses. I’m especially mesmerized by his use of this primal red colour.