Page 22 - Demo

22|November 2019
How Artists Use Natural Stone to Create Timeless Sculptures
Megy Karydes
usenaturalstone.com
Sebastian Martorana, sculptor and illustrator lives and works in Baltimore, MD.
Slippery rock Gazette
I want to explore,” Martorana admits. “Each stone, just like each sculpture, is unique. That cannot be said of anything that is cast or mass produced.”
Sculptor Robin Antar agrees.
In her abstract work, her challenge is to make heavy stone look like it is twisting, bending, and light. “I like the fact that it’s heavy and I can transform it into a sculpture which has movement and form so people don’t realize the weight of it,” Antar shares. “I also work to bring out the beauty of the stone in each piece, carving it in a way that showcases its natural properties.”
My Comfort Clothes by Robin Antar. Tinted Limestone.
Her Realism in Stone series also transcends the weight perception. “I sculpted a pair of jeans in limestone,” she shares. “Nobody realizes it weighs 80 pounds—it just looks like a pair of jeans.”
Natural Stone Tells A Story
Many of Martorana’s sculptures are made from salvaged material. In addition to the material’s geological origins and cultural association with memorial and permanence, each stone has its own specific history, which he appreciates and finds important.
“Where did it come from? What was it? When was it installed there? Why was it thrown away?” he asks. “Those answers inform each stone sculpture that I make.”
Even if the piece he uses wasn’t salvaged, where in the world it came from will be of significance to the completed work of art. It is rare for him to pick a stone at random for a sculpture as he always takes into account its individual story.
Robin Antar, American sculptor, at work. Photograph by Morris Gindi.
The Power of Natural Stone as a Form of Healing and Expression
As a sculptor, Antar is drawn to the subtraction process of carving and working with grinding tools. She also appreciates the challenge of taking an unworked, unpolished piece of stone that many might perceive as “dead” and make it come alive.
The type of stone Antar uses depends on the mood of the piece since she says different stones give off different moods. She offers
honeycomb calcite to illustrate her point. “It looks like candy in a way,” she explains. “And when I carve out figure shapes, it has a very different mood than white marble, for example. A sculpture in honeycomb calcite – a light, airy, glass-like stone – would have a completely different feeling than an opaque white stone like marble.” Sometimes she’s drawn to a type of stone because of the emotion she’s trying to express in the piece. Please turn to page 30
T he beauty and versatility of natural stone are among the many reasons homeowners and builders gravitate to the material for their projects. Artists often are drawn to stone for similar
For artist and sculptor Sebastian Martorana, the challenge and beauty of the material was enough when he first began working with natural stone. “As I have grown, I now see natural stone as the best vehicle for the concepts that
reasons.
Permanent Separation Anxiety by Sebastian Martorana. Salvaged Beaver Dam marble. Photo by Geoff T. Graham.
Robin Antar with David’s Knot in Flames.