On August 8, I had the chance to visit with sculptors Michael Rizza and Dave Matthews at Michael's home. His home is somewhat simply furnished, but every possible surface contains his own sculptures or the paintings of a special friend. As part of this project, I've been able to see some of the homes of artists who decorate with their own work. However, their homes were larger and their works were primarily designed to hang on the walls. Michael's home is in a beautiful retirement community, but it is a condo and his sculptures need space for three dimensional works. It almost seemed like it would burst at the seams with the effort to accommodate this artist's prolific body of work. Above: Michael in his home, surrounded by his sculptures. Del Park is another artist whose home doubles as an art gallery of his work. Rizza's home has a sun porch with windows on three walls. The room is filled with pedestals supporting sculptures in bronze, aerated concrete, and stone of all types. In fact, he's carved thirteen types of stone, including a block of salt from a feed store. Michael walked me through the house and gave me the name, material, and sometimes even the year created for each piece. Fleeting Torso is made of aerated concrete. Above: Ancient Fertility is made from slabs of countertop material to form a pyramid and an egg. Below: Moment of Sorrow was made after September 11th, with the red outer shape representing blood and the bronze inner shape representing a tear. Given what I have learned from the different sculptors in Michael's studio, I thought I would ask Michael about whether he preferred to sculpt stone when he had a shape in mind before he started or to work with the natural shape or irregularities of the stone. Michael said that if he starts with a rectangular cut of stone that doesn't say anything to him, he will make a maquette of his own design and then sculpt the stone to that form. If he starts with a boulder, he will work with the stone's inherent qualities and enhance it. Regardless of the project, he said that his goal is to "simplify to beauty." He asked, "What is simpler than a rectangle? A Square. Simpler than a square? A sphere. A sphere? A line. A line? A dot. I am looking for what is simpler than a dot." On my visit, I also saw Michael's home studio that is located in his garage. He works there almost every day when he's not with the larger sculptor group. The garage contains some of Michael's larger pieces, a work bench for carving, and molds and materials from previous projects. I couldn't have asked for more generous hosts for my visit to Michael's home. They even took me to lunch. (If you're an artist reading this blog and thinking you may want to participate in my project, buying me lunch is not a requirement!) In my next post, I will talk about the different techniques that Michael uses and his passion to bring to life the many ideas he has in his head (or has already made in miniature). I left this meeting somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of art I had seen and the force that drives Michael to continue to create.
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April 2022
AuthorTiffanie Heben is a photographer who has been inspired by the artists in her community |