Horses in Art - An Equine Vision Magazine

Sculpture: Art in Three Dimensions

by Sarah Crampton

"Sculpture gives expression to the most prized personality traits." - Emory S. Bogardus

The painter has only two dimensions, height and width, to create an illusion on a flat surface. The sculptor has the benefit of the third dimension of depth, and the sculpted form occupies space. This third dimension and the possibilities it opens up for creativity and expression are bound only by the mind of the sculptor.

The sculptor who creates the horse is often concerned with expressing movement. The artist is challenged to simulate energy out of a hunk of hardened metal alloy composed of copper and tin, known as bronze. Viewing a static, solid mass of bronze that appears to be in motion is one of the recurring joys derived from each viewing of a sculpture.

Overlook
Bronze by Jan Van Ek
Jan Van Eks dynamic sculpture is all about movement. In her mind it is not detail that is important in sculpture, as much as it is the motion and composition. Van Ek comments, "Sculpture must have a fluid and pleasing structure at a glance to bring you in for a closer look. Detail then is an added complement to the sculpture."

"Movement is extremely important to my sculptures," Van Ek continues. "You want your eye to flow around the piece and capture its feeling, its spirit. Even a standing still piece can have a tremendous amount of movement - a swish of the tail, a twist of an ear, or mane blowing in the wind.

"The horse brings me peace and comfort, a sense of purpose," Van Ek adds. "I am in awe of their power and freedom. It is this essence that I try to portray to the viewer."

Sculptor Ken Sullivan is a native of Houston, Texas, and began his artistic journey by drawing horses and cowboys. His school notebooks from kindergarten through college were filled with sketches of mounted figures, characters and studies of anatomy.

He became an ardent student of classical western and equine art and taught himself to sculpt, developing a clean, powerful style. Ken combines his joy of exploring universal themes in western contexts with his passion for anatomy, accuracy, action and attention to detail.

In 2004, his sculpture Pay Day! was awarded the Founders Award at the American Academy of Equine Art Fall Juried Show in Lexington, Kentucky. and Sullivan also won first place at the American Plains Artists Juried Exhibit in Midland Texas for his sculpture Lord of the High Plains.

Sculptor and ceramist Elizabeth Ritter has been sculpting for twenty years and was a former public school art instructor. "In our world of art we find an introspection lacking in other parts of our daily lives. We are able to transcend the normal boundaries of what is and look beyond to what might be imagined," comments Ritter.

Her horses are not necessarily anatomically proportioned but are sculpted in a contemporary style to catch their attitudes and gestures. Ritter remarks, "Those seeking purity in my noncommissioned works will have to look elsewhere. While they are representational, they are not true-to-scale."

Brigitte Eberl lives and works in Munich, Germany. She often rides her two horses, an Arabian and a German warmblood, through the beautiful countryside of southern Germany.

Eberl comments, "I think it is important if you want to sculpt a horse lifelike to know how it feels when it moves."

She has always been interested in horses and started depicting them in sketches, but later on found that sculpting is much more fun. Her goal is to capture each horse in its typical pose, expression a look. At times she feels she nearly manages it.

Bit of History - Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy made of mainly copper and tin. A metal alloy is a substance composed of two or more metals. Alloys, like pure metals, possess metallic luster.

Ancient and modern bronzes also may contain zinc, lead and silver. The production of bronze by mixing copper and tin was an established practice by about 1500 BC throughout Eurasia.

Bronze is stronger and harder than any other common alloy except steel, but it excels in its resistance to corrosion. Bronze is less precious than the metal alloys sterling silver, 14-karat gold, white gold and plantinum. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc.

- World Book Encyclopedia

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