Primi Pensieri

Materials: terracotta

Dimensions: variable

Throughout the traditional history of Western sculpture, terracotta has served as a raw material for the modeling of monumental works. Terracotta studies have performed the same function for sculptors as drawings for painters. This is due to the ease of design and speed of work. It enables a preservation of the essence in the sculpture’s initiation which can be lost in sculptural processes involving harder materials. By the 17th century many respected sculptors rarely implemented the final sculptures, and instead provided their assistants with drawings and models made in this manner. Hence, the terracotta models were the only products of the sculptor’s hands created by him in the process of sculpture manufacturing (Androsov and Walker 1998).

The work presents a series of formal models in preparation for future works. It Illuminates the importance of crafting material capable of recording and visualizing the reflections of primal ideas as formed in the creator’s imagination.

Androsov, S., & Walker, D. (1998). From the Sculptor’s Hand: Italian Baroque Terracottas from the State Hermitage Museum. University of Washington Press