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Raymond Andrew Wiger
Taos,
New Mexico
Wire
Mesh - A Medium For Sculpture
The
challenge of an artist lies in the expression of beauty - not
necessarily in regard to the aesthetic, but to that which lies
closest to a truth. In case of wire mesh, the aesthetic is an
integral part of the expression, but the forms are used to
convey emotions and ideas. Beyond the decorative, figurative
work in wire mesh is meant to engage the intellect and curiosity
of the viewer.
Wire
Mesh - A Medium For Sculpture
Unlike the
traditional sculpting materials of stone and clay, wire mesh
encompasses many dimensions at once. Metal, light and empty
space are the three components that together in varying degrees
bring new directions to classical figure in sculpture. Of the
three, metal, at times, seems to be the least significant. A
typical sculpture is but one third wire and two thirds empty
space. Shadow play from light at various angles extends the
sculpture beyond its physical bounds, casting an image not
unlike a charcoal sketch that can take on a form identical to
the sculpture itself or become an abstract apparition. Mood,
meaning and movement are enhanced, redefined or obliterated
altogether by a flick of a switch or the changing angle of the
sun's rays. At once animated and elemental, sculpture in wire
mesh allows for a continued evolvement and reinterpretation of
the work beyond its finished form.
Destruction
best describes the process of sculpting stone - the removal of
extraneous material to reach the object embedded within. The
molding of clay is a constructive process - a piecing together,
building, adjusting of material to achieve the desired form. The
manipulation of wire mesh is none of these. To equate sculpting
in wire mesh with any other process might be to describe it as
an exercise in origami while contemplating a Rubik’s Cube.
Beginning with a square, rectangular, triangular or polygonal
piece of mesh, the transformation to figure occurs without the
use of any tools but the hands. As important, the integrity and
continuity of the initial two-dimensional plane and geometric
shape are never compromised by the removal of "excess" material
or the splitting the mesh into separate workable segments. To do
so would be to reduce a rather complex process to one of cutting
out paper dolls. The final piece must include all the original
material intact. With the same properties of cloth, an area of
mesh when moved or stressed will affect all other areas of the
mesh as well. What is required is a visualization of a two
dimensional space to three, and a calculation of manipulations
in an order that brings the final form to fruition.
Evolution
Earlier
works in clay and stone, both abstract and figurative, serve as
a basis upon which the exploration into the realm of sculpture
continues. From scraps of screen from a window and a fireplace
to industrial hardware cloth, the work in wire mesh advances.
Through present works examine the human form, inspiration is
often drawn from the fluid patterns and lines of the natural
world, while subject matter is born from classical mythology or
the temporal act. The sculpting process, then, is a synthesis
between impression and substance; yet the transition is one from
the literal to the suggestive. Above all, the works are an
attempt to express the beauty found when harmony among form,
motion and emotion is realized.
Raymond Wiger first started working in wire
mesh as a sculpting material in the late 1980's. Beginning with
screen left over from repairing a window in a cabin in a
National Park, after six months discovered a more workable
material with the same properties while sitting in front of a
fireplace in Seattle, Washington.
While reading the Inferno of Dante, the realization came that
the type of material that would allow him to fully examine wire
mesh as a medium in sculpting stood between himself and the
fire. He uses no models or photographs from which to work, but
relies for reference on a background of anatomical studies at
the anthropology and art departments of the Smithsonian
Institution where he worked for 15 years beginning in 1978.
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