Sarah Tortora

Learn how to make sculptures that can withstand the test of time in this experimental workshop that joins steel, substrate, concrete, paper, and other coatings. Participants bend and weld steel armatures and structures–the bones of a sculpture–that can support surface materials that are textured, colorful, and durable. We concentrate on basic metalworking skills, covering techniques for problem-solving toward specialized forms. Students learn basic metal forming, bending, welding, and how to mix and apply various surface materials. The workshop integrates technical proficiency with experimental approaches that introduce unique textures and exciting new possibilities for durable and tactile sculpture.

In this workshop, Tortora demonstrates various ways to incorporate concrete in mixed media sculpture using constructive, modeling, and basic casting approaches. We discuss how to use concrete to redistribute weight and visually defy gravity; anchoring into concrete for stable joinery; techniques for modeling concrete onto wood, foam, or other substrates; and using everyday materials like clay, cardboard, or plywood to create basic intuitive molds to generate forms. Students experiment with different cement mixes for more lightweight or eco-friendly blends. Participants leave the workshop with a basic working knowledge and skill set that can be easily replicated with economical materials and workspace.

This small-scale sculpture course explores the intersections between architecture and sculpture. We reconsider and recreate the properties, sensations, and language surrounding familiar sites, major architectural works, and historical structures at tabletop scale using economical construction methods with basic wood, steel, foam, epoxy, and mixed-media assembly. We consider armatures and framing, achieving structural stability, modular units, color, light, and context. Tools and materials are stretched to their limits to achieve what may seem physically impossible, and methods taught in the course remain achievable long after its conclusion.

This small-scale sculpture course explores the intersections between architectural model and tabletop sculpture. Students reconsider and recreate the properties, sensations and language surrounding monuments, sites and structures at a domestic scale. Students also use economical construction methods with basic wood, foam, resin and mixed-media assembly. Modular units, structural stability, color, light and context are investigated. Tools and materials are stretched to their limits and methods practiced in the course remain achievable long after the workshop’s conclusion.