Emotive Expressions

There is one element particular to sculpture that isn’t directly translatable to other work, unless you are going to add some form of sculpture to your jewelry or decor: the creation of emotion through facial expressions.

With non-representational art (which constitutes the majority of wearable and functional art) we can use colors, forms, patterns, textures, and motifs to help us express emotion, but a viewer’s life experiences and associations will determine if they draw that same emotion from the work. However, joy, pain, confusion, sadness, apathy, and other human reactions can be rendered in sculpture through faces. Human facial expressions are, more or less, universally understood, giving the sculptural artist who recreates the human form or brings to life personified creatures or objects quite the advantage in terms of relaying emotion–which in turn can relay atmosphere or may even help tell an entire story.

Joyce Cloutman has some of the most wonderful expressions on her polymer dolls and figures. Mirth and contentment seem to be dominant on her whimsical people and creatures, consistent with the fun sense of humor she obviously has.  I mean, these little guys are call Snail Males. They’re just adorable.

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If you have never tried sculpting faces, oh what fun awaits you–because of course, you have to try it! I’ve found it’s usually best to just play around and try not to aim for realism when you start out. Exaggerated lips, cheeks, head shape, eyes, and noses can really help you loosen up preconceptions about the shape, size, and orientation of features on a face.

To start your face play, you can work off someone else’s work that is already exaggerated like Joyce’s sculptures (you can see more on her Flickr page). You can also look through some of the many online tutorials, such as this one by Sarajane Helm, or this one on Amanda Day’s doll making site. This kind of play can also hone your skills at sculpting in general as you learn to push and manipulate the clay in ways you might not do when building functional or wearable art. And yes, I will be glad to be the blamable source if you fall in love with sculpting faces.

Thanks to Tommie Montgomery for suggesting we check out Joyce’s fun work today!