African art inspires animal assemblages.

African sculpture throbs with a diversity of styles, subjects and techniques. Every culture has its own idea of what art should look like and what purpose it should serve. The qualities linking the diverse styles are elegant craftsmanship, robust technical qualities and vigorous surface textures. There is a simple yet confident way in which the essentials of a subject are brought out.

Much of African art is not meant to decorate but is meant to express the ideas that were laid down by generation upon generation of traditions and precedents. Thus, as one group made sculpture that was realistic, another group was making stylized sculpture.

Sculpture Styles

Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the anonymous sculptors of Benin, Nigeria, mastered the art of plastic manipulation and conquered the feeling for three-dimensional depth. They modeled realistic busts and wall plaques in terra-cotta or cast them in bronze. The calm, quiet beauty and noble look of the sculpture are striking.

During this same time period, the Ashanti wood carvers of Ghana and the Bambara of Mali dramatically stylized their work. Although aware of the anatomy of living things, they were not interested in showing what the eye sees. They wanted to imply rather than conform to the facts of nature. So, they stripped animal, bird and human anatomical features into basic geometric shapes--into a sort of visual shorthand--and applied it to their work. In the process, they skillfully opened up areas in the sculpture so that the open spaces became an active, expressive part of the work. These abstracted sculptures with their angular masses, convex and concave forms, ovoid shapes and linear patterns are simple in structure, yet daring in concept.

Student Sculptures

Every two years, my Art III students carve animal sculptures in wood or stone. Using audiovisual materials, we explored how Ashanti and Bambara craftsmen stylized their forms.

For students who preferred to work with an additive rather than subtractive technique, doing a brazed steel piece in an animal form was an option. Since this particular aspect of the project was an assemblage using preformed scrap metal gears, pipes and angles, it called for a number of thinking dispositions. First of all, it called for the ability to abstract natural features into geometric shapes and forms. Shapes and forms needed to be selected which approximated a particular animal's features like legs, tail, hair, ears and so on, or have a combination of those features already existing in a certain metal piece. Sometimes the pieces needed to be bent, cut or shaped. Finally, it had to be assembled in such a way that the brazed sculpture had the look and features of a living thing.

Our equipment wasn't elaborate. We used solid oxygen and butane torches. The enthusiasm with which the students worked and their proud smiles upon finishing attested to the success of the project.