Redstick
Redstick
Artist
Deborah Butterfield
(born 1949)
Date2007
MediumBronze with patina
Dimensions91 x 123 x 28 in. (231.1 x 312.4 x 71.1 cm)
ClassificationsSculpture
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2008.1
Accession number
2008.1
On View
On viewLabel TextIn her large-scale sculptures of horses, Deborah Butterfield tries to respond to the individual qualities of the materials used in order to arrive at the final product.
Butterfield begins by finding interesting-looking sticks and covering each with a ceramic material that can capture fine details in the wood surface. The wood is then burned away, leaving a ceramic mold, and the inside of this mold is covered with a layer of wax. Mold and wax are then submerged in plaster. When the plaster sets, Butterfield fires it to melt away the wax, and then pours in molten bronze. When the cast has cooled, she breaks away the mold, revealing the bronze copy.
After the first set of sticks are cast, the artist assembles them to create the overall form of sculpture. Then she fills in the rest of the shape with smaller sticks, which she later casts in bronze and adds to the final work. In this way, her completed work is as unique as the living creatures that inspires it.
