Feature Inc :: Richard Rezac: Recent Sculpture 7 October

.there’s a lot more metal than usual, have you noticed that?
I have noticed, but I don’t know why, other than a normal difference in emphasis. In many instances with these newer works, the added metal is aluminum plate, used as a fairly mute element and these serve as trays, in a sense, similar to the role that canvas plays in a painting. The reflectivity and neutral color of aluminum offers a quiet complication, but also holds the other elements in the sculpture, both physically and compositionally. Two of the works contain cast bronze, which has been a material and process that I have used for many years.

.pattern and decoration in sculpture—you address that often in this body of work, but always keep us coming back to sculpture. is juggling that an effort?
I don’t find this an undue effort, but I agree that it presents a paradox. Traditional pottery decoration throughout many centuries and cultures balances this integration. Because I always begin with a drawing in the process that leads to a sculpture, and geometry is the visual language that I use, pattern and decoration can easily appear within the drawing. But these elements come from the overall, circumscribed form and usually fit within its visual logic, as a breaking down or highlighting of constituent parts. Consequently, the pattern—as it’s transposed to a sculpture, takes on a structural role and, I think, grows from the center of the sculpture rather than laying on the surface.

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