Glossary

 

 

abstract [art]         art that does not depict recognizable scenes or objects, but instead is made up of forms and shapes for their own expressive sake. In normal usage the term refers to 20^th century painting and sculpture that abandon the traditional European conception of art as the imitation of nature.

 

bas-reliefs                ‘relief’ is a sculpture that projects from a background surface rather than standing freely. A ‘bas’-relief is one in which the degree of projection is low. (‘bas’ from the Italian word basso meaning low in height).

 

biscuit ware             porcelain or ceramic after firing but before                              glazing and painting.

 

bronze                       a brown alloy made mainly of copper and tin; a work of art made from bronze.

 

carve                         to produce by cutting (statue, portrait, representation in relief, inscription, design); to change material by cutting.               

 

cast                            a model made by casting in mould; moulded mass of solidified material.  To shape liquid substance – especially molten metal - by hardening in a mould; to form from metal.  (Also see sand casting and lost wax casting)

 

ceramics                    objects produced by a process of strong heating of clay; pottery. An object made by firing clay in a kiln at high temperatures.

 

clay                             stiff, viscous earth found in many varieties in beds or other deposits near the surface of the ground or at various depths below it. With water it forms a paste that can be moulded into any shape that hardens when dried.  It forms the material of bricks, tiles, pottery and earthenware.

 

cubism [cubist]         a style of art in which objects are presented to give the effect of an assemblage of geometrical figures.  The cubist movement was originated by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque from c.1907 to 1914 and is recognised as one of the major turning points in Western art.  The cubists abandoned traditional notions of perspective, foreshortening and modelling, and aimed to represent solidity and volume in a two-dimensional plane.

 

earthenware             baked clay; objects, articles or utensils made of baked clay. (see clay).

 

Emigré                       one who leaves one’s country for another, especially for political reasons; an emigrant.

 

enemy alien              During World War I, the Australian Government enacted regulations requiring all currently registered non-citizens and those entering the country to register as ‘aliens’.  During World War II, non-citizens and new arrivals from countries with which Australia was at war were defined as ‘enemy aliens’ and many were interned in camps throughout regional Australia.                

 

foundry                     a place where metals are melted and moulded.

 

glaze                          the glassy coating used to render ceramics impervious to liquid and smooth to the touch.

 

impressionism         style of art, music or writing that gives general tone

[impressionistic]       or effectrather than defined finish or detail.  The movement originated in France in the 1860s in opposition to the classical academic training of the art schools. These artists aimed to capture the immediate visual impression rather than the permanent aspects of a subject.

                       

 

internment camp     camps set up to accommodate those who are considered enemy aliens in times of war when government policy determines that they are to be confined within limits.

 

ivory                           hard creamy-white substance which makes up the tusks of elephants, hippopotamus and walrus.  Ivory is now illegal and rarely used for sculpture or artefacts.

 

lithography               a method of printing from a design drawn on a surface of stone or other suitable material which is treated with chemicals so that what is to be printed can be inked but the remaining area rejects the ink.

 

lost wax casting       In the process of casting by the ‘lost wax’ method, a mould is made from rubber and plaster to make an exact copy of the plaster sculpture with wax. A wax pouring cup is added to this and it is placed upside down on a flat surface resting on the pouring cup. The wax sculpture is thickly covered with a mixture of plaster and materials able to withstand high heat. The original shape of the sculpture is no longer visible but resembles a large block of white plaster. This is placed in a kiln and heated slowly.  The wax sculpture melts inside the plaster and runs out through the pouring cup. When this is done and the plaster is completely dry it is removed from the kiln and molten bronze is poured into the plaster mould through the pouring cup. The plaster is broken away when this is cooled to reveal the bronze sculpture that is then cleaned and finished.

 

maquette                  a small preliminary model, often in clay or wax, for a work or sculpture.

 

model                        a figure in clay or wax to be reproduced in another material. To fashion or shape in clay, wax or other malleable material; give shape to.     

                       

modernism               the methods, style or attitude of modern artists;

[modernist]                 specifically a styleof art in which the artist deliberately breaks away from classical and traditional methods of expression.

                       

pigments                   any substance used as a colouring agent, particularly finely ground particles which constitute a paint. Most pigments are now manufactured but traditionally pigments have been made from plant, mineral and animal sources.

 

St George and the

Dragon                       To the early Christians a dragon symbolised evil, in particular paganism. The conversion of a heathen country to Christianity by a saint would thus be depicted in symbolic form as the slaying of a dragon with a spear. In later times, when the meaning of the original story had been lost, the image was interpreted in terms of the traditional stories from antiquity. St George was said to have fought the dragon on the seashore outside the walls of a city in order to rescue the king’s daughter who was being offered as a sacrifice.

                                   

sand casting             The mould into which the molten bronze is poured is made from special sands and binders which, when compressed against the plaster surface, retain the details of the modelling. The mould is made of many pieces so that it can be removed without sticking into undercuts on the surface of the sculpture.

 

soapstone/steatite a variety of talc stone that is very soft and smooth and has the appearance of marble but with a soapy texture.  It is so easily worked that it can be carved with a knife and polished.  It is a dull greenish or bluish grey, sometimes veined in many colours. It is vulnerable to dampness.

 

terracotta              clay that is baked to become hard and compact.

 

Trojan Horse             from Greek legend and told in Homer’s Illiad and Aeneid. The Greeks are said to have captured Troy by gaining entrance to the city inside a huge, hollow, wooden horse filled with armed warriors.  The horse was left on the shore and the Trojans were convinced to take it into the city, believing that it would mysteriously make them invulnerable.  Released by a Greek spy, the armed troops killed the guards, opened Troy to the Greeks and the city was captured and burned.

 

void                           empty or unfilled space in a two- or                                    three-dimensional work of art.

 

compiled from The Oxford Dictionary of Art, The Compact Oxford English Dictionary, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art by James Hall, and with the assistance of Stefan Damschke, sculptor and resident curator of The Duldig Studio.