Metal wire has been used to make jewellery and small trinkets since the 2nd dynasty in Egypt, and the bronze ages in Europe. It was many years later when wire sculpting began as an art form.
Wire sculpture is a type of sculpture that uses wire as the primary medium. Wire sculptures can be made using various types of wire, including copper, aluminium, and steel. Wire sculptures can be created using a variety of techniques, including twisting, coiling, and weaving. Wire sculptures can be either freestanding or hung on a wall.
Creatives have been using wire to make sculptures for many years, with the earliest recordings coming from the 20th century.
In this post, we are going to go take a brief look at the history of wire sculpting, even showing examples of iconic pieces!
Trailblazers
Alexander “Sandy” Calder.
You cannot talk about the origins of wire art without talking about Alexander “Sandy” Calder. He was a man who contributed greatly to the development of wire art as we know it today. After a stint of making toys for a Parisian merchant, Alexander began creating one of his most famous pieces - The Cirque Calder that featured miniature movable wire models of a variety of circus performers such as lion tamers and sword swallowers.
The Cirque Calder is part of the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum in New York. Some of his other notable projects include, Two Acrobats, Romulus and Remus, and the Hercules and Lion.
Ruth Asawa
Another notable artist that experimented with this art form in its earlier stages was a woman named Ruth Asawa. She came to prominence when wire sculptures she had created were displayed in the Whitney Museum of American Art and the 1955 São Paulo Biennial.
Ruth Asawa’s early interest for this particular art form was nurtured by her college teacher, who supported her experimentation with wire and commonplace materials.
BS fixings has regularly supplied an icon in the industry named Robin Wight of Fantasy Wire, who is very well known for the wire fairies that he creates.
You can see an image that shows just how amazing his work is below!
Famous Wire Sculptures
'1 O'clock Wish' by Robin Wight
'Mona Lisa' by Seung Mo Park
'Blue CJ570' by Shi Jindian
At BS Fixings, we are proud to be the supplier for a number of wire artists across the nation, so if you are interested in trying your hand at it, then you probably want to know what wire the artists are buying!
We find a lot of our creative customers choose the Sculpting Wire Multi-Pack.
The pack contains three 1kg coils, with the coils supplied in diameters from 0.7mm, 1.0mm and 1.6mm.
You can trust the strength of the wire due to its 304 stainless steel grading which ensures your model’s integrity remains intact throughout the building process and beyond. Although the wire is strong, it has also been described to be soft and malleable, perfect for bending into new shapes.
We hope you enjoyed this post. If you do leave feeling inspired and find yourself creating something of your own, we would love for you to send a picture in so we can all see your creations! If you have any further questions about our sculpting wire, or any of our other products, please call us on 03330 117818 or email us at info@bsfixings.co.uk.
