About Bronze

When you learn about bronze, you see how intertwined the metal is with recorded human history. There are many great reasons why famous ancient artists preferred to carve sculptures out of bronze, and the same reasoning extends to modern bronze artwork.

Bronze is a term used to describe any alloy that contains 85 to 95 percent copper while the rest of the alloy is composed of tin or arsenic, with the potential of other metals present in smaller proportions. The most common combination you will see is around 88 percent copper and 12 percent tin.

The earliest known usage of bronze dates to around 4500 B.C. and represented a fundamental shift away from stone tools. This kicked off what is known as the Bronze Age when ancient civilizations discovered that bronze casting could create an impressive number of shapes, especially weapons and tools.

The ancient Greeks, in particular, were all about bronze sculpture making. The Delphi Charioteer was one of the most famous of the ancient statues. Many experts think the sculpture portrays a life-size man holding the ropes of a chariot to celebrate a win in the Pythian games and to praise the Greek deity Apollo.

Bronze sculpture typically gets created via the casting technique, which involves pouring molten metal into a mold. The mold is then allowed to cool, hardening the metal into the final creation.

The unique attribute of common bronze alloys is that they expand slightly shortly before they are set. The bronze then shrinks just a bit while it cools, making it easier to remove from the mold. These characteristics make bronze ideal for sculpting since you can create highly delicate details.

Bronze is also incredibly strong and pliable, which is a fantastic advantage in creating the illusion of movement and action in a sculpture. You won't find this same trait in statues made from stone or wood.

The more you learn about bronze and the process of sculpting artworks out of it, the more you'll appreciate the incredible artisanship. I feel that my work is just as timeless, and I aim to follow in the footsteps of the ancient civilizations that first discovered these astonishing casting techniques.