I don't want to sound mushy but with this sculpture there is a certain amount of mush necessary. It is about that time that you are so in Love that you become one with each other. Your mind and body are so intertwined that you can only feel completely a peace in the presence of the other.
I think the Postal Service said it best in 'Such Great Heights'(Youtube video)
and I have to speculate
that God himself
did make us into
corresponding shapes
like puzzle pieces from
the clay
This is another in the series I made about the different stages of relationships. The previous two I wrote about in The kiss and Skin on Skin which you can check out if you so desire.
With this piece I wanted to take away all the space between the figures and create poses which left no room for 'cut-throughs' (holes in the sand sculpture). I really enjoy making cut throughs and had made some of the biggest I had seen in sand but for this I wanted the opposite. To make my two figures so touching there was no gap between them. Unfortunately one did slip in under the male figures elbow but i think I will forgive me that. If you want to complain please send a stamped addressed envelope with your gripes to the Minister of Sand Sculpture, Turnsburry House, NR3 1LB, Norwish. UK and you will receive the sand I took from the hole.
When I arrived in Valladolid, Spain the sand was just dumped in piles on the Plaza mayor de Valladolid and I could make whatever I wanted. Instead of compacting the sand into a big block to carve my sculpture out of I just hopped up on top of the pile and started carving. I knew I wouldn't need any strength in the sand to do what I wanted and me standing on the sand compressed it enough.
I was actually very happy with the way the piece worked out. Maybe not my carving quality but because the sculpture made me feel the emotion I was trying to convey. For me this is very important. I think Art should make you feel something. For me the figures appear 'tranquil'.
The sand was quite nice to work with but we did have some heavy showers of rain that dappled the surface and since my sculpture was soft and fully exposed i needed to rework the surface a few times to make it look smooth.
The sand that each sculptor was given had to be used in it's entirety meaning that i couldn't dump away any of it. As a solution for the base I made a form which I could smooth all the sand into. A bit Like trying to sweep dirt under a carpet. This big fabric I then tacked down with with some sand nails so it wouldn't blow away.
Ps
Thanks for reading. I use Steem to document my work as an ephemeral Sculptor of sand, snow and ice, among other things. This will hopefully give it a new life on the Steem blockchain. Below you will find some of my recent posts.
Caged baby - ice sculpture
Market Analysis using digital elevation maps
My introduction to Ice Sculpture - ice sculpture
I hope you'll join me again soon.
@ammonite