Raku-Fired Hands Inspired by Rodin

Spring 2020 3D Design final

Spring 2020 3D Design final

Rodin is known for his virtuoso abilities and directing his focus on capturing expressions of the human condition through the figure. In a similar spirit, Spring 2020 3D Design students paired up to choose a posture for their hand to photograph from all sides to use as a model.

Rodin inspiration

Rodin inspiration

Instead of making replicas of Rodin sculptures, we focused on the formal qualities exhibited in this series and how the artist focused on the expressive nature of the subject’s posture, combined with the expressive nature of modeling a form out of clay.

Students focused on the elements of line, shape, color, texture and space in the creation of their hands. Final products were evaluated according to principles of balance, dominance, proportion, scale and contrast.

The resulting sculptures were fired using the Raku method, which removes pieces from the kiln while they are still glowing red hot and places them with combustible materials, yielding an unpredictable visual result.