By Gavin McCalden
Every work of art contains some form of texture, each one communicating a different emotion and energy. Tom Palmore’s deliberate use of line creates awe-inspiring accuracy, while Denny Haskew’s roughly sculpted form evoke a sense of movement. Each artist brings out a feeling specific to each sculpture, and Star York is no exception.
Many people wonder how an artist creates bronze work with such detail and feeling, often creating the appearance of hair or feathers. For Star Liana York, this process is often very fluid in nature. It is more about the feeling of a surface than the accuracy of it.
“Sometimes careful, deliberate surface treatment, though perhaps accurate, can stagnate the feel of a piece.”
- Star Liana York
Rather than sculpt patches of fur on a bear or the individual feather of an owl, Star often chooses a broader approach. She frequently sculpts using a serrated palette knife to apply and sculpt clay in larger areas. The use of such tools and techniques brings an energy to her work that cannot be found in the accuracy of realism.
“I like to prepare the clay by heating it to make it very soft and fluid, so that when I apply it with the knife, it goes on with a spontaneous looseness that is more impressionistic or expressionist in feeling.”
- Star Liana York