I chose for my second research topic to pick another sculptor...because I really
want to learn as much as I can about a few sculptors.Louise Nevelson sparked my interest.
I actually came across one of her pieces in my modern art book and I just loved the amount
of detail that she would put into her pieces.For a while I thought that her sculptures were
made out of metal,which would have been great since my topic was on strong metal sculptures,
but then I found out that they were made out of painted wood. It's shocking to think that it's only
wood because it has such a strong feeling that most metal sculptures have.I found this to be very
interesting, so I decided that I would still research her more and see why she chose to use wood
for her grand sculptures instead of metal and what her techniques were.
"Nevelson was living in poverty and materials were expensive:necessity was the mother of this
invention." She is known for her abstract expressionist "boxes" that when she puts them all together
they form a new creation of the world.Nevelson says, "When you put things that other people have
thrown out, you're really bringing them to life-a spiritual life that surpasses life for which they
originally created." This is why everything is made from wood or other random found objects that she then just
paints.
A very interesting fact that I found about Nevelson was that she never started out in the art field as
a sculptor.She originally only created paintings, but she's known for her abstract box sculptures because
sculpturing is the field that she really shines in and shows that she is a mature artist.All of her work is very
mysterious,with a hinged door, cabinet or something placed secretly here and there in her very large scaled
pieces. "The supplies was scavenged from alleys,painted all black and sometimes white,that sit on the floor but
also hug the wall." Since her pieces are painted one color mainly, it allows her massive sculptures to create a
plethora of interesting shadows on the sculptures itself and on the walls.She's big on using the light as another
meduim. I really admire Nevelson because she is in a mainly men's field of sculpturing and is still shinning.
She uses her paints and natural light to create the look of real metal,which is why it confused my eyes.