Foam Block Sculpture

Our final sculpture project was to carve a styrofoam block, which was a reductive technique that removed material to create the image.  These sculptures were meant to show cultural imagery, and from the beginning I knew I wanted to use Celtic symbols.



I noted down various symbols and sketched out the ones that I wanted to use.  I especially wanted to feature a simple Celtic knot and show where each line passed over and under the others.  I planned a basic idea for my sculpture, but I only knew beforehand what I intended for the top third and not for the rest.

 

This is the final sculpture.
The top third features the Celtic knot and a 3 spiral symbol.  To bring out the shape of the knot, I made the line go deeper in next to where the other line crossed over.  This is one of the best looking features of the sculpture, and it really gives the impression that it's a truly woven knot.  As for the spirals, there is a slight gradient that makes the centers of each spiral stand out more.  (A chunk broke off from the top during the carving, which was unfortunate, but I glued it back on and was able to continue with my plan.  Hopefully it isn't too noticeable!)
In order to create volume, I completely cut out holes in the negative space between the lines of the knot.  This was challenging, as the holes needed to be precisely shaped, but with small tools I could carefully take material away.
The next section has the double spiral symbol, which spans two sides of the block.  The edge between the two sides was rounded out so as to let the spiral flow across in a more appealing way.  The spirals curl inward, in contrast to the upper spirals, towards more holes through the block.
The bottom part was carved out like a single spiral that corkscrewed around.  The inside of the lines is convex, as if there was a cylinder inside, while the outside flat surface was made ever so slightly concave to contrast with it.