Kasra Ghanbari, CEO of Comic Art Fans, interviews sculptor Carlos Soca on his Comic Art LIVE channel to discuss appearing in next year’s OAX.
Interview With Comic Art LIVE
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The Atlas Slave by Michelangelo (circa 1525–1530)
Sculptors Are Different
I don’t know if it’s apocryphal, but I once heard a story that when Michelangelo was asked to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he said he didn’t want to do it because he was a sculptor, not a painter. Maybe the master just didn’t want the gig, but there’s no question he was a genius in every artistic and creative application he put his mind to, including drawing, painting, calligraphy, architecture and poetry among other things. That said, I can understand why he might have thought of himself as a sculptor first and foremost, if not exclusively.
My dear friend Rick Frignaca, a great sculptor and director of one of the best bronze foundries in the world and a master in his own right, once explained the different personalities that each artistic discipline seemed to attract—or maybe reveal. He said that while painters were kind of aloof and detached from their work because the brush naturally creates a distance and a barrier, draftsmen were intensely connected to theirs. “Yes, there’s a pencil between them and the page, but they’re generally touching that page as they push out and tease every line. And they’re so often hunched over the page, turned inward…”
“But sculptors, we’re our own thing,” he insisted. “We suffer for our art. We’re constantly in direct contact with the media, and so often it’s beating the hell out of us—whether we’re pushing, squeezing and shaping some clay or carving some stone or wood or whatever—it hurts and we’re fighting it to make it come to life, to make it be what we have in our imagination.”
Sculpting is visceral.
Painters and draftsmen don’t usually have scars or gnarled fingers, but I don’t know many sculptors who haven’t been marked by their work. It’s part of the job, no matter how careful you are, so you accept it. If anything, a little shed blood seems like a fair trade for the sculptor because so often they’re trying to make something real, not an illusion of reality. Maybe a little of my blood will give the piece a bit of life essence. Will make it breathe and move. Rick knew what he was talking about on so many subjects, “You might say that sculptors are often the most extroverted introverts in the fine arts world. We don’t necessarily want to analyze the internal stuff a lot, but we sure as hell want to shout it out and project it out to the world in three dimensions. We want to make them feel it.”
Sometimes, I really miss my friend. Not only did he really understand so many beautiful things, he knew how to express them so that anyone else could understand them as well.
…sculptors are often the most extroverted introverts in the fine arts world.
Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel; the work took approximately four years to complete (1508–1512).
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Please note, all Manifest Sculpt work is completed with traditional sculpting techniques—modelling and carving—rather than through modern digital techniques and programs. Consequently, the resin and bronze castings in this edition were also produced through traditional mold making and manufacturing processes. Final Manifest Sculpt commissions are available in a variety of materials, but they are not 3D printed and are not available as printable files. Copyright Notice: all work, including ideation, concepts, stories and their development, character design and production are the property of Carlos Soca unless otherwise noted, and all rights are reserved. Should you wish to discuss collaboration or licensing of an intellectual property or its design, please contact Manifest Sculpt.