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The Menhirs of Western Europe, found in Brittany and Stonehenge, are prehistoric standing stones of unknown origin. They may have been monuments, or part of some ancient ritual. Perhaps these newly created Menhirs will persist as ancient standing stones.
brooklyn installation ...... views
his website ...... www.ralphholkersculpture.com
For me there is something magical and mesmerizing about reaching into the earth, pulling forth the clay and spinning it on a wheel to form a vessel. The world around me ceases to exist and my whole self is focused on forming the mass of clay into cylinders, spheres, and disks. I feel a kinship with all of the potters throughout all the ages.
At first, these forms became casseroles, cookie jars and vases. Then there was a slow metamorphosis from functional ceramics (influenced by Hamada-Shoji) to figurative and then abstract sculptures. The opening of bottle necks became smaller, the rims grew larger. One day when I was trimming excess clay from a heavy bottle, a colleague told me it looked like a squatting samurai warrior. My life as a sculptor had begun.
Throwing a basic form is still the beginning of each new sculpture. I see this form as analogous to a blank canvas waiting for paint. I alter the damp structure by carving, pushing, pulling and attaching chunks of clay. I am attempting to make my work truly three-dimensional with layered surfaces and a play of light and shadow inside as well as outside. On successive viewings I would like to have people discover textural complexities, the interplay of positive and negative forms and to look into the carved openings that expose the sculpted interior.
As I look back on the evolution of these sculptures, I believe that the creation of complex three-dimensional shapes has been a subconscious rebellion against the severe geometries and unadorned surfaces of the Bauhaus aesthetic of my college years.My current work continues to evolve, and I am very curious to see the direction it takes. There may be fewer individuals and more groups. Some works will be more ornate; others will be simpler. I am beginning to see gesture and motion in the shaping of the clay.
write:
Ralph Holker
2752 Mathews Street.
Berkeley, CA 94702phone:
510-666-8496
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