Sculpture Vocabulary
3D
See Three-dimensional below
A
Additive
Adding material together to create a sculpture/form.
Armature
A skeleton of a sculpture that supports the outside material.
Assemblage
Combining non-art materials together to make a sculpture. (See more)
B
Base
A foundation piece(s) that a sculpture is attached to preventing tipping and gives a sculpture a sense of presentation.
Bust
A portrait sculpture or a painting representing a person's head, neck, shoulders and upper chest, and perhaps the upper arms. (See more)
C
Carving
Removing material/ media by cutting or chipping away to create a sculpture.
Casting
A sculpture method where the material in its liquid form is poured into a mold and then the material turns to a solid thereby taking the negative shape of the mold.
E
Earthworks
Large sculptures made outside with earth
Ephemral
Using impermanent materials that don’t last or slowly change.
Freestanding
Sculpture stands on its own and is meant to be viewed from all sides/angles.
I
Installation
A sculpture where participants are able to be in the sculpture or a part of the sculpture. It is generally a site-specific design and might have a “lifespan.”
K
Kinetic
A sculpture that moves. This could be due to a motor, air movement, or any other external force.
M
Maquette
A small scaled model of a larger (monumental) sculpture.
Mobile
A sculpture that relies on the balancing of sculptural arms to create suspended artwork that moves with air circulation.
Modeling
This is a process of applying a malleable material to an armature for the purpose of creating a sculpture. Similar to laminating but with thicker layers.
P
Paper-mache
Is a mixture of a binding agent (glue) and water that is applied to strips of paper and then put over a form/armature using a laminating process.
Plasticine
A form of modeling clay. It does not dry out and is commonly used in stop motion. It also can be molded (see molding) over a form/armature.
S
Sculpture
A three-dimensional work of art (See more)
Subtractive
The artist starts with a larger piece of material and removes some of it until only the desired form remains.
T
Three dimensional
Having three dimensions. For example, a box is three-dimensional (See more)