John Fisher: Carving lines

Materially Speaking

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Originally from Oregon, John moved around America a lot as a child. Although he was not formally schooled as an artist, he received his education at a young age while travelling with his family through Europe and the Middle East. There he took in many of the great works of antiquity.

John came to sculpture in his thirties from a background in painting, and very quickly began carving monumental pieces which he was able to sell. It was at this time that he experienced a revelation when he began to imagine how stone carvers worked in the past.

Although this technique is much less practised nowadays, he believes that for thousands of years sculptors worked without eye protection. They discovered what John refers to as profile carving. John describes himself as a direct, flexible, profile carver.

The first piece John mentions is a big reclining figure which earned John enough money to allow him to come back to Pietrasanta and work. Recently the owner of that piece died and John was able to buy it back in an auction.

John also tells of the gravestone he carved which is in the cemetery of Querceta, near Pietrasanta which is a Pieta of 5 life-size figures.

Another piece, a pair of lovers, John carved from a special piece of marble he had kept for 16 years. As he was carving the embrace he had a moving experience as he felt them pushing themselves into each other, as though they couldn’t get close enough.

Now John divides his time between the Redwood forests of California and Pietrasanta - drawing inspiration from the world around.

He acknowledges a great debt to the cavatore, the quarrymen. Without quarrymen, artists don’t have the material to work with.

johnfishersculpture.com

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