Studying the Figure

Figure Study Collage

Figure Study Collage

My interest for studying the human figure began back in high school. I saw the work of Boris Vallejo and it caused a great impression on me. Even before I decided to pursue a BA in Fine Arts I began drawing the figure. My style and use of the line began developing as my interest for understanding the intricacies of the human body.

Working with live models in college opened a new vision of the nude figure. As year passed I continue the process of understanding the connection between how we see the human body and our spiritual nature. The first clay nude sculpture ever created was made by God in the garden of Eden when He created the first man. Being able to sculpt the human figure is for me like partaking in the experience of creation with God.

Interestingly, it was the fall of men that changed our vision of the body and so it began:

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

Studying the figure also gives the opportunity to study human behavior. The way we look at the naked body is an indication of a spiritual condition deeper than skin. Each perspective is possibly an indication of a distorted truth, a life changing experience, scars and issues of the past. I don’t pretend to justify my art and how I represent the body in my work. Nevertheless, I hope that your encounter with my work helps you consider your own condition. “Where are you?”

Comments (4)

  1. mariah

    This is very beautiful… and a good way to look at life and the body

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