Notes on Sculpture with José-Ricardo Presman

As we continue to explore sculpture in Sculpture 56, the building-wide sculpture show at 56 Bogart St, we took some time to check in with José-Ricardo Presman about his process and ideas about sculpture. Presman will have a solo show at Amos Eno Gallery that opens on June 1, 6-9PM. Take a moment and get to know Presman's work in Perceptual Slip at Amos Eno Gallery.

Amos Eno Gallery: Why sculpture? What is it about sculpture that makes it a compelling medium for your art?

José-Ricardo Presman: I work in mixed media, so I don't necessarily use sculpture as a medium unless I'm depicting a balance between the gravity defying forces that "draw up" from the periphery of the work, and the pulling down of the forces of gravity. Most sculpture is actually made in the form of "construction" from a central point to the physical edges of the work, point-by-point, with an emphasis on its weight. AEG: Please describe your process of working with three-dimensions. Where do you start?

JRP: The classical sculptors are well known for starting with a piece of material -- stone, wood, etc. -- and imagining a form "inhabiting" the material. They then carried out their work, releasing the form from the raw material. This manner of working for me must be the starting point -- the raw material gives way to the internal imagined form. thereby freeing it from "imprisonment".

AEG: In what ways does sculpture invoke the body?

JRP: Sculpture involves the degree of lightness or heaviness of the body -- it doesn't have to be the human body. If the work is more detailed, it could describe the range of the body and its three parts of head, circulatory system and limbs; or in nature, sky, water and earth. The skill of the artist adds both internal and external warmth, giving it life.

In my work titled "Skin", the flesh colored, textured globe hangs at an angle in defiance of purely downward pulling forces. When countering these forces, two dimensional and three dimensional forms are interchanged. Skin, of course, is normally associated with flat, two dimensional organic anatomy and subject to the same downward gravity as anything else on earth.