Weekly Team Update

Our team, The Virtual Sculptors, continued to move forward with our sculpture park throughout the week. The research provided by Nicole helped each of us begin to understand the different approaches available to us. Listed below are the updates from each team member for this past week:

Nicole was inspired to create a sculpture based on the prevention of domestic violence. In today’s society, domestic violence occurs far too often and she hoped to bring attention to this serious issue through art. She is modeling her sculpture after silhouette models that are used by the Jersey Battered Women’s Service to represent victims who have unfortunately been killed as a result of domestic violence. This subject holds a personal significance to Nicole as she has lost family member to the terrible tragedy that is domestic violence. Her hope is that her sculpture will increase awareness of the scourge that is domestic violence.

Lissette was inspired to create a sculpture based on the current concerns surrounding energy and its impact on the environment. Her hope is to motivate people to do the little things that everyday Americans can do that will help conserve energy. Lissette is modeling her sculpture into the form of a light bulb. The average American family has increased their living space by approximately 1200 square feet. Cars are bigger, garages are heated, and spare bedrooms have additional TV sets. Her goal is to inspire people to return to the idea that contentment is not the fulfillment of what we want, but the appreciation for what we have.

Darrell has been inspired by Alexander Calder’s work and intends to create a sculpture in his style. Calder was an American sculptor and artist who is most famous for inventing the mobile. In addition to the mobile and stabile, Calder also created paintings, lithographs, toys, and tapestry. After experimenting with a variety of subjects, Darrell is currently struggling between a couple of finalists, but expects to settle on his subject this weekend.

Anthonyette has been inspired by the current war in existence. It consumes the minds of people not just in America, but all countries. It is our hope, that all of our soldiers come home alive as soon as possible. The artist Michelangelo Buonarroti inspires her with his artworks such as ‘Daniele da Volterra, bronze bust’ and ‘pieta, Master of the Beautiful Madonna’. Anthonyette’s bust will be titled ‘The Soldier’. Michelangelo was so greatly admired, that everyone refers to him just by his first name. Michelangelo considered himself a sculptor, but has one of the world’s most famous paintings, ‘The Sistine Chapel’ ceiling which Anthonyette had the pleasure of viewing. He saw human beings as unique, almost godlike. She thought ‘The Soldier’ was fitting after she read that Michelangelo sculptures and the process of its creation reflected people’s struggle with their imperfect selves-souls in turmoil, bound in their bodies.

I have been inspired to create a modern sculpture of a bear and her cub in the style of Alexander Calder. As our population continues to rise and developers build further into the wilderness, the natural habitat of the local animal population is disrupted. There are no easy solutions to this problem and hopefully my sculpture will remind people that we share this world with the wildlife and should find a way to be respectful of their homes. I have also continued work on our sculpture park and am updating it with some of the latest suggestions from the team.