Addition or Subtraction
There are two major ways to sculpting: Addition and Subtraction.
Addition refers to the process of building each individual piece by itself, designing it in isolation and then bringing it all together to create the whole structure.
Subtraction, on the other hand, takes a different approach. You start with a block. And then peel unwanted layers and pieces to get to the form lying within.
Sculptors generally favor one of the above styles and follow that path throughout their careers. Both are very difficult to master and, of course, it takes a good artist to make good art. You need a vision of where the whole thing is going to go, before you start chipping away at it. A lot of times you get ideas in the middle of the process and integrate it as you move along. That’s the master putting his creativity and experience into play.
But the chasm of difference between the two approaches is vast. Let me ‘splain.
When adding, you have to plan each individual piece delicately and precisely, so that it can fit in well with each other. After it is done, you graft the components together. You might find that one part is a little off, and you build it again until it’s perfect. It requires great skill and care. The great thing about adding is, you can work with a lot of people. Given the right specs, a variety of people, some good at building hands or legs, others better at the torso (assuming we are talking about the human form), can work apart and get the sculpture done faster.
Alternatively, subtraction is a lone man’s job. A single person usually build it all. You have to be mindful of every cut or blow the mallet makes because it weakens the structure. You have to chisel away just enough pieces such that the form emerges, but is strong enough to stand on its own. One wrong move and you have to start all over again with a fresh block. Sometimes you aren’t even aware of the flaw until you have reached the end. It’s a highly stressful job, subtracting in sculpture is. It takes a master sculptor to create the masterpiece Sin Cera (without wax).
If I look upon myself as Michelangelo, and my life as my greatest work, my David, what approach am I taking? Am I adding or subtracting? We usually think in the Addition framework. We have to “acquire” that skill, we need to “get” more famous, richer or whatever. And that’s a perfectly valid approach. But once in a while we can think about it as — that skill is already inside us. Our job is to take the chisel’s cut and mallet’s blow in the right manner so that life can shape us correctly.
When you hear writers, painters and other creative people talk about their process, you often hear them talk about how they peeled layers after layers off of themselves, until they were finally left with something raw and original which deeply connected with other people. That is because they are being authentic. It takes courage to do that. It’s not comfortable baring yourself to the world like that, becoming vulnerable and let people judge you. We are all scared to put our own identity into the work. What if people don’t like it or critics shit all over it? But the greatest works that we have come to love have always been somewhat semi-autobiographical. It had the author’s vein sewn into it. James Joyce’s “Dubliners”, Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” or Dicken’s “David Copperfield” are few of the many examples.
But vulnerability is not weakness, it’s strength. Sometimes, all we need is to eliminate the resistance to the vision and the vision takes care of itself.
