The Art Practices of Sculptor John Bacon

A true blue British sculptor from Southwark, John Bacon was born in 1799 and was fascinated by sculpture at a very early age. He apprenticed at Lambeth; a porcelain manufacturer very famous at the time. Bacon was fourteen by the time he worked there as a painter and sculpture modeller. By getting accustomed to the process of high-fired porcelain, he was able to get a good learning foundation for the craft. Eventually during the course of his life, he made use of the technical and practical knowledge base to create his own unique and well-defined porcelain sculptures. Aside from working in porcelain, Bacon also mastered several other media, such as stone-working and marble-carving. He was able to improve an artificial stone sculpting process being used at the Coade Artificial Stone Manufactory.

Sculpture of Father Thames by John Bacon - Photography by John Thaxter

In the late 1700's John Bacon first started working with hard marble material. In 1769, he eventually won a gold medal for sculpture at the Royal Academy for his creation of a bas-relief scenario of Aenas' escape from the city of Troy. Because of this sudden fame, Bacon was then commissioned to create a bust of King George III. This was a landmark moment in his career as a sculptor, and the times to come were much more vibrant in terms of projects and opportunities for him. He went on to do more works for other famous identities and continued to keep the favor of King George throughout a long period of time. Bacon's works can now be seen and studied at St. Paul's Cathedral in London and Pembroke College among others locations.

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Monotone White in Sculpture

Since the age of Greek artisans to the era of Victorian masterpieces, sculptures have been popularized in the classical sense of beauty and elegance. It can be seen through historical collections and museum galleries that many of the sculpted pieces during those days consisted of monotone color. Mostly white or light marble, these pieces draw their attention strictly by the composition, detail and design of their contours.

Color is a major factor in other media such as painting and illustration- so why did monotone sculptures exhibit a high popularity during the olden days?

In modern society, porcelain figurines and gold emblems are some of the descendants of this track of art appreciation. I believe that the purity in singular color is further enhanced by the contrasting background of a multi-colored surrounding. Since most of our world consists of clashing colors and vibrant spectrums, it is understandable that a piece with a striking mass of singular color be fairly more visible against such conditions. Such are the sculptures of renowned cat sculptor Kylo Chua, who practices monotone sculpture in and around the Asian regions. As a 22 year old professional, he creates a form of elegant loops and lunges within his pure white creations. Chua has also displayed at many galleries in the Philippines (the birthplace of his artistic story) and is now immersing himself into different regions of the art world.

His white sculptures suggest the monopoly of visual tenacity one would acquire from experiencing a bold sight. Drawing on a hybridity of classical elegance and modernist abstraction, Chua’s work makes use of the element of monotone color in a way that combines its impact with the gravity of contemporary contouring made plausible by modern design.

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