Scy Caroselli Artist Review

Venus of Willendorf, 30, BCE 

Artist Unknown

Carpe Deim, 2019
Scy Caroselli 

 

Scy Caroselli learned to sculpt from her mother, Marianne Caroselli. Like her mother, Scy has mastered the challenging medium of bronze casting and captures her subject with outstanding reality. Scy seeks to convey deeper meanings with her work that speak to the deeper meanings of human existence. Dynamic poses and carved details accentuate the female forms that are left faceless so the viewer can see themselves in the sculpture. Her inspirational sculptures remind to viewer to face new beginnings with courage, strength and positivity.

Aesthetics

 Principals of Art-

Space: Space is demonstrated to create dimension in the composition. The balance between the positive space of the sculpture with the negative surrounding space is considered when creating a more compelling sculptural composition. In Carpe Diem notice how the pockets of blank space around the figure prompt your eye move. Most noticeably, the space created between the legs leads your eye up and around the sculpture.

Color: The patinas applied to the surface of the bronze allow Scy to interject color to align with the mood of her sculpture. In Carpe Diem Scy creates a surface of smooth gold that is burnished in some areas, and highlighted around details. This shimmering surface reflects the ideas of excellence and strength in the figure who is seizing the day.

Shape: Shapes are considered in the composition of her forms to create sculptures that are compelling and balanced. In Carpe Diem you can see how the horizontal shapes of the head and leg counterbalance each other against the vertical form of the body. The change in directionality from these general shapes add visual interest and create balance.

Form: Circle is to shape as sphere is to form. Sculpture by nature is three dimensional and composed of actual forms. Scy molds her forms into semi abstracted and stylized figures. Due to Scy’s strong understanding of sculptural and artistic fundamentals the human form appears perfect in proportions. This provides Scy with a chance to exercise her artistic freedom to then embellish and stylized the figure to something beyond a strictly representational sculpture.

Value: Value relates to the tint/shade of a hue (color). Every color can be tinted by adding white or shaded by adding black. The purpose of considering value in a work of art is to help create both dimension and a mood. Subtle changes in value arise from the application of the patina that gives color to the sculptures. Sculpture also benefits from light play to showcase the changes in the sculpture’s surface when placed under a light source.

Texture: Scy chooses to primarily work with smooth surfaces that may be embellished and textured by hand when seen fit. In Carpe Diem the surface is smooth except for the carved in details on the form. This change in texture captures the eye to make the viewer consider their importance and place.

Line: Line use in Scy’s sculptures is often shown through carved details she embellishes the sculpture with. You can see clearly in Carpe Diem the curving line use on the form and the ways these lines lead the viewers eye around the sculpture.

Principals of Design-

Balance: Balance is key in sculpture so as to not feel too weighted and heavy in one area and to promote eye movement and an aesthetically pleasing composition. Carpe Diem is balanced by the leg that bends on the left and the head which hands on the right. These portions of the figure counterbalance each other as well as add visual interest to the primarily vertical composition.

Unity: The unity of a piece is what creates a sense of completeness. The flowing form, the cohesive surface color and texture, and the ribbon wrapping around the form all create a sense of unity in Carpe Diem.

Variety: Variety is what adds interest into a work of art. Scy creates subtle but very interesting visual variety with her carved embellishments. In Carpe Diem the lines are something for the eye to stop upon and appreciate as they vary from the rest of the figures surface.

Emphasis: Emphasis is what the artist uses to creat a focal point. Focal points can vary viewer to viewer, but a truly successful composition will have one clear focal point that the eye is continually drawn to over and over again. In Carpe Diem the viewer’s eye is drawn to the beautiful body of the form.

Movement: Movement implies motion is a snapshot of time. The flowing ribbon wraps itself around the form of Carpe Diem. The way the ribbon wraps around her both provokes the eye to move, but also adds an idea of movement as she is captured in this fleeting moment.

Pattern: Think of pattern as the visual skeleton that organizes the parts of a composition. This underlying structure uses consistent and regular repetition. You can have both natural and man made pattern. In Carpe Diem the ribbon repeats as it wraps around the form. It is a subtle patter that inspires the eye to move up and down the sculpture.

Perspective: The viewer’s perspective will change as they move around the sculpture. Every new angle provides the viewer with a new insight into the meaning behind the sculpture.

Production

Scy uses the lost wax casting technique which has been in use for the last 6,000 years in the production of bronze sculpture. The process starts with making the model in clay, wax or a similar medium. Once the form has been created a mold is made around it so the interior of the ridged outer mold holds a mirror image of the original mold in it’s interior. After the mold is completed it is filled with molten wax which creates a hollow wax copy of the original mold. The wax mold is then “chased” where it is finished to look just like the original mold.

This wax copy is then “spurred” with a tree like structure of wax which will act as a guide for the molten coating material and then melted away. Once the wax copy has been spurred, it is then dipped into a slurry of silica which acts like a sand coating the entire exterior of the wax copy. This silica coated piece is placed in a kiln, spurred down, and the heat hardens the shell and the wax melts out.

Now all that remains of the original artwork is the negative space formerly occupied by the wax, inside the hardened ceramic shell. Bronze is melted in a furnace then poured into the shell and then allowed to cool. The shell is either sand blasted or hammered away revealing the rough casting. Metal chasing now smooths the edges, removes imperfections, and clips off the spurs to reveal the same mold in its finished bronze form. The patina is then painstakingly applied by the artist typically with a paint or air brush.