Material Alchemist: Tom Price on Sculpture's Substance and Spirit

20 hours ago7 min read1 comments

Sculptor Tom Price operates as a material alchemist in his studio, transforming industrial substances into profound artistic statements. His practice is a deep, physical conversation with matter itself, where he coaxes out the hidden potential and inherent memories within materials like molten plastic or rigid composites.This process-driven work builds upon a legacy of material-focused artists, from Anthony Caro's structural innovations to the organic purity found in Wolfgang Laib's installations. For Price, using reclaimed components is an act of archaeological storytelling, weaving an object's past into a new aesthetic fabric.This stands in deliberate contrast to detached conceptualism, aligning instead with a contemporary resurgence of materiality seen in artists like Rachel Whiteread. While often abstract, the ghost of the human form lingers in his work, informing its balance and visceral impact.His powerful series with bitumen and tar, for instance, evokes a geological body, connecting human anatomy to the ancient earth. In our digital age, Price’s commitment to the tangible and the slow art of making is a radical gesture. His sculptures demand a physical response, reminding us that meaning is not just intellectual, but something to be felt in the weight, warmth, and weathered history of the materials he so masterfully animates.

#Sculpture

#Tom Price

#Material Experimentation

#Figuration

#Abstraction

#Artist Interview

#Contemporary Art

#featured

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