Bronze Sculpture and Metal Sculpture Commission

By Sculptor Elmer P. Petersen

"An award winning sculptor and teacher, Petersen has been a self-employed sculptor and promoter of "art in public places" since 1978. Before focusing on commissions and limited edition bronzes, he entered his works in twenty-two competitive shows, receiving eleven awards from such known figures in the art world as Richard Diebenkorn, William Zorach, John I.H. Baur (curator of the Whitney) and Charles Umlauf."

Click Here to purchase unique Elmer Petersen sculpture

Sculpture Commission

Larger sculpture commissions are better for me than many small ones - also challenging ones where I can think creatively. Solving problems including that of function and appropriateness are (as well as aesthetics) important to me and what I like to get involved with. Usually I have a discussion with a client and find out why the sculpture is being considered. With more discussion we can add to that. (See "What Sculpture Can Do".) Usually, then, I first make sketches and if it looks like we are getting something, I will make a model. (See "Stages: Sculpture Commission" to see how I work with clients.)

WHAT SCULPTURE
CAN DO

Sculpture can give life to an environment of cement, steel, and brick.

Sculpture can be the jewel for a setting, a focal-point, an enrichment.

Sculpture can reorganize space.

Sculpture can be a landmark, a point of reference.

People can go to it, from it, or in relation to it.

Sculpture can say something
about you, what you do, who you are.

It can be something with which you can identify, and be identified with; i.e., your objectives, beliefs, character, or product.

It can be your
statement to the world.

Sculpture can exist to be experienced; consider living with art.

Sculpture can focus experience.

Sculpture can be a symbol to unite a community.

Sculpture, on your premises, is a gift to the community.

Artist's Statement

My Sculpture shows considerable variety but not a great body of work for a lifetime; however, that is how I identify myself… as a sculptor.

But, it wasn't until I was In my mid-twenties that I took myself seriously (as a sculptor); and that was when I was introduced to welding as a medium of expression… as well as a new understanding of, and respect for the role of materials and processes. By the nineteen-fifties, there wasn't that much welded sculpture, and thereafter not that much figurative welded work. From just the welding for an armature ( The Plague) to creating volume, like traditional sculpture (see The Ram), I developed a style (Nancy the Goat) which had the look of the materials and processes that I worked with; i.e., sheet metal, a metal nibbler ("unishears"), a roller to curve the flat sheet metal and an oxy-acetylene welding torch. The look was of curved planes, and weld "lines" that seemingly could exist on their own. (Gambrinus and Earth Woman are the clearest examples.) The welds are a major contributing factor to the formal experience, and contrast to the way I worked on Woman with a Bird… the welds are hardly discernable. I was thinking stone-like form when I created this sculpture; so, the welds contribute mainly as texture.

The only commissions that I had before 1974 were the "Tourist Attraction" ("The World's Largest Buffalo") and The Good Shepard for Bowman, ND. So, up to that time, because I was going to school or teaching, I was just making art… learning, discovering, and problem solving. Usually I worked for awhile with the same material or medium such as "found objects", which contributed their own forms to the creation. I also worked for approximately two years with found materials which I picked from an automobile scrap yard. (ex. Guardian Angel).

In the future, I will be working mostly in cast bronze. The welded steel sculpture doesn't seem to hold up as long as desired. My personal quest is to discover a distinctly personal form using a variety of materials and processes that I am familiar with. A bronze casting mold can be taken from just about any material or form. I could make welded steel portions which would give hard looking planes, and I could integrate modeled clay areas if I wanted more intricate and/or softer contrasting form. Both could be translated to bronze.

Finally, I would like the viewer of my sculpture to experience the form, and be able to describe the sculpture in other ways than just what the sculpture represents (depicts). Consider the crystal, the piece of driftwood, the pebble with its smooth shape and color patterns. These are not picked up and saved because they look like representations of people or things. The form can be the main attraction, and the subject… the vehicle.

Elmer Petersen Sculptor Signature
Elmer P. Petersen
Sculpture In Metal