Sculpture art is one of the oldest art form where it is considered to be a niche in the art scene today. This is mainly because a lot of artists today prefer to indulge in the more 2-dimensional art forms like paintings and drawings. Sculpture art takes up more time and is more 3-dimensional and it ranges into many different types of medium.
Historically, sculptures have been used since Ancient Greece where it is known to be one of the major times when great masterpieces have been produced. Sculptures were also made throughout many other civilisations and eras where they have been used to depict the leaders and religious figures. To a certain extent, statues are regarded as sculptures where they are made by renowned artists of their times.
Typically, sculpture is a part of visual arts where it has been involved in carving and modelling traditionally. In general, mediums like metal and wood are used while the more contemporary sculptors use different materials where daily objects are said to be adopted as well. The idea behind sculpture art is the manner by which the artist is able to express themselves through this medium. It is a deviation from the conventional method of art which encircles around the likes of paintings and such and through sculptures, artists are able to offer a different approach to the appreciation and viewing of their art work.
Sculpture art differs from installation art while they are similar only by the fact that they are 3-dimensional. Apart from the creativity element, artists would need to cultivate a different range of skills sets where they are required to learn the likes of welding and moulding, particularly when they are working with metal and stones. On top of that, sculpture artists would also need to understand the physics of objects as their artwork would need to be robust and not too overly fragile. Sculpture art like chairs and tables would need to withstand a certain degree of weight in order to function appropriately.
In the appreciation of sculpture art, one must be able to identify with the title in order to understand what the artist is trying to promote. Today, sculptures are more involved in the making of models that depict the artists’ own abstract expression. Sculptures could be figurative, objective or even abstract in many forms and it is up to the viewer to understand them.
One of the most illustrious sculpture artists in Malaysia would be Abdul Multhalib Musa where his sculptures are seen in many major corporate spaces that include the Westin Hotel and at Rimbun Dahan Artist Residency. His works are known for the symmetrical elements and how he welds them into a uniform way remains as his signature and trademark. Generally, Multhalib’s work is known to offer fluidity and the process is very much his own. In his recent work entitled ‘Twist’, he projected an almost impossible sculpture of a twirling downward/upward spiral which is often seen in his other art works.
