New York artist Carole Feuerman is famous for her hyperrealist sculptures and is credited as a pioneer of the movement. Born in Connecticut and raised in Brooklyn, Carole yearned to be an artist from an early age and took art lessons at age eleven. She eventually had the opportunity to show her work and, from there, it gained popularity and won awards. Carole’s art explores classicism while also presenting common themes that occur in people’s everyday lives. Thesculptures tell powerful stories of the experiences that the artist has encountered in her life and the universality of those experiences.
Recently, Carole spoke about her experiences as an artist.
Art.
Blasting News (BN): How would you describe your work?
Carole Feuerman (CF): I love to make sculptures of people who are comfortable in their own skin; beautiful, classical, healthy people. I want the viewer to question the thoughts inside the mind of each sculpture. No one can ever know what pain others carry inside, or what they are thinking. My sculptures portray the feelings and stories I want to tell---difficult, happy, playful, joy, health, strength, vulnerable, etc. I work in resin, bronze steel, and video and more recently in paintings and prints. Physicality is a huge part of my work. The realism in my art stems from my desire to portray real emotions and physical states of being—from peaceful serenity to energy, equilibrium to vigor; sound minds in sound bodies is a theme of my art.
I am best known for my sculptures of women bathers and swimmers and the realistic water droplets that cling to their bodies.
BN: Do you have favorite pieces, mediums, and artists?
CF: “Survival of Serena” and “The Golden Mean.” Their titles are derived from islands around the world that I have visited and gained inspiration from.In 2014, I created a forty-foot, two-ton bronze sculpture called “Double Diver.” It speaks of persistence and the will to succeed, exemplifying integrity, trust, and teamwork.
I work with bronze, paint, and resin. I am inspired by Michelangelo, Anish Kapoor, Degas and more.
Style .
BN: How did you develop your unique style?
CF: My sculptures have always visualized a natural beauty and a sense of inner peace, especially of women. In the early ‘70’s I was drawing album art for Alice Cooper and The Rolling Stones.
I turned to sculpture in 1978 and began to address hyperrealism. My creative process begins with an idea; sometimes I observe a posing model while I sculpt. I paint most of my resin pieces using oil paint. It takes hours of labor and over a hundred layers of transparent paint gradually built up to create the look of flesh. They only look hyper-real when the eyelashes and eyebrows are perfected and the last water drop is set.
BN: What has been the most rewarding experience being an artist?
CF: Spending my days creating!
Advice .
BN: What advice would you give to aspiring artists?
CF: Do what you love and believe in; don’t give up no matter how many galleries reject you.
BN: Are there any upcoming projects and/or events that you would like to mention?
CF: I just exhibited a new series of dancers for the first time in my solo show at C24 Gallery in May 2016 in New York City. Currently, my dancers and newest works are on display at KM Fine Arts in Los Angeles in my first solo show called Perception. I plan to exhibit these dancers, along with two new monumental ones, in my upcoming solo show in the 2017 Venice Biennale. It is the amazing and well-developed sense of touch and of three-dimensional space that appeals to me. I am now sculpting in clay instead of life-casting the models. To create my dancers, I took poses from these dancers and idealized them into my own vision and notion of organic beauty. Throughout my career I have explored numerous themes and aspects of reality through hyperrealism; It all comes down to one’s “Perception.”
