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GORDON PUNT
Statement:
I love many types of art and have been creating it for most
of my life. I work basically in three mediums, which are; pen
& ink, bronze and stone. Human faces and nudes are my main
focus of interest, which I express in both classical and abstract
ways. I have taught art to children and adults and involve myself
in the artistic communities where I live.
For over forty years I have been drawing the
human figure and continually find it challenging. Drawing
from a live model is the primary method I use. Sometimes in
as little as thirty seconds I try to capture the illusive
movement of dance, a gesture of emotion, or a sensual moment.
I have recently been enlarging the scale of my drawings to
four-foot canvases, and have been experimenting with different
mediums to accomplish this.
The subject matter of my early bronze figures
dealt with various human conditions that I saw in the world
and experienced myself. Titles such as “Frustration”,
“Heartman”, “Scream”, and “Never
Enough” give you an idea of what I was working with.
My bronze is influenced by the work of Rodin, where detail
is subservient to emotion, texture, vitality and strength.
I have strong ties to classical art, yet feel the pull of
modern art. My interest in the human face also led me in to
making life size bronze portraits of notable individuals for
Cities and Institutions. In recent years I have been working
mainly with the female nude. I have incorporated a stronger
and simpler element of design and celebrate the positive and
negative shapes the figures make in space. The acrobatic series
I am working on relates to my love of gymnastics, and is a
sport I once competed in at college. I plan to keep this group
in the sketch format, inspired by the small bronze ballerinas
of Degas.
Working in stone and bronze is a way to attain
some degree of immortality. The process of using a hammer
and chisel, and chipping away at a seemingly indestructible
piece of stone is also satisfying to me. I like to use two
different techniques in developing stone sculptures; one is
polishing the entire stone to a pristine finish, the other
is to leave some of the original stone showing at it's completion.
Carving marble in Italy several years ago exposed me to Michael
Angelo’s series called “The Bound Slaves”.
These are figures partially emerging from the stone that binds
them. I have continued with that image of raw stone in combination
with partially developed figures. The Kansas Fence Posts made
out of limestone and standing five to six feet tall are ideal
for this approach. My premise however is to express the relationship
we humans still have with nature, and to celebrate the pure
beauty of stone itself.
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