Hugh Witzmann OSB
Sculptor in Residence

Saint John's Abbey and University

Collegeville, Minnesota
 

Artist's Reflection

I am an image maker who invites you
to examine, experience, interpret
and, finally, to respond to the ideas
to be found in the shapes I have made.

What I make is bronze sculpture
which might be best described
as a visual, tactile and
three-dimensional work of art.
Art, to be sure, is in the eye of the
beholder and so I, especially
as a sculptor,
shy away from using
verbal "piffle" to tell you, the viewer,
what might be seen, touched,
enjoyed or disliked in my work.

Freedom in the creative process
of bronze casting begins with wax,
a soft, unassuming, yet inviting medium.
Details in wax may be easily altered
until the shape hints at permanence,
strength and acceptance.

Bronze replaces wax to express
durability.
Bronze is a living metallic alloy
with a history, a mystique all its own.

I like what it tells me. For me,
bronze is a metaphor of qualities
I find in monastic living--- simplicity,
stability, honesty and
a humane beauty purified through fire.

Bronze accepts patina of color
which brings it life---
an enhancement of the living quality
of bronze which begs a response
from the viewer
long after the artist leaves you
with the sculpture.

You may recognize a style
in these sculptures:
.... they may reflect
  primitive African sculpture
  with its unadulterated form,

.... they may recall classical art
  of ancient Greece,
  with its simple, essential and
  aesthetic concern for
  design and compositions

.... or they may remind you
  of religious sculpture
  of Romanesque France
  or Catalan Spain
  with their ecstatic lines
  of timelessness and abstraction.

 

Galleries: The Ancient Art of Bronzes | Sacred Sculpture

Hugh Witzmann OSB MFA
Sculptor-in-Residence
Saint John's Abbey and University
Collegeville, MN 56321-2015 USA

Comments or questions about my sculpture are welcome.
Write to me. <HWitzmann @ csbsju.edu>

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