Material Alchemy: Tom Price on the Narrative Power of Sculpture

6 hours ago7 min read5 comments

Sculptor Tom Price treats his materials not as passive elements, but as dynamic collaborators in a performance of creation. In his latest exhibition, Price emerges as a contemporary alchemist, engaging in a profound dialogue with substances like melted plastics and reformed metals.He coaxes narratives from the molecular level, transforming a block of industrial tar into a frozen, obsidian river or synthetic rope into delicate, lace-like carbon formations. His genius resides in the fluid boundary between figuration and abstraction; a work might evoke a human curve from one perspective, only to dissolve into a pure, geological form from another, compelling viewers to constantly re-evaluate what they see.This process is central to his art. Price elevates the evidence of making—the scars, seams, and unpredictable material reactions—from mere byproducts to the core of the work's meaning.He embraces the 'happy accidents' of cracking and color shifts as essential gifts of chance, connecting his practice to artists like Lynda Benglis and Richard Serra, who similarly celebrated the visceral properties of their mediums. For Price, the final sculpture is a single frame in an ongoing conversation about transformation, tension, and the hidden stories within the industrial and the organic. To encounter his work is to witness a captured performance, where the materials themselves hold a final, eloquent pose that speaks volumes of their creation.

#Sculpture

#Tom Price

#Material Experimentation

#Figuration

#Abstraction

#Artist Interview

#Contemporary Art

#featured

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