Larry Lawlor – 1 x 1 x 1 (2021)

We The People 

Q1: How did the idea come to you?

In this order:

-GREAT, there will be a symposium this year. 

-From my meager store of stone I got out a 2.25” thick slab of limestone, 22” L x 16” W.

-After spending time with my image files and batting ideas around, I chose to try to capture the beauty, the power, the simplicity of an image from a poster I first saw from a picture of the Women’s March 2020.

Q2: Process: Maquette? Drawing? Direct Carve? Other?

To translate the image onto the stone, I first graphed the image to get 4 squares wide and 6 squares down. On the stone I scaled up my graph to match the stone width, which gave me 4” squares to fit a little less than 4 wide and about 5.5 squares down. Drawing a 1.25” border, the face would be larger on the stone than on the poster image, which I decided I liked. I placed center lines on the stone and measured outward from them.

Q3: Hardest part?

The first challenge of carving this piece was the shallow depth of the stone. From the very tip of the nose to the lowest part of the background, I had no more than a 1.5” of depth if I was very careful! Another challenge was how to render the flag. I decided that I would rely on texture to render the different values of the red, white and blue. The different ratio of the poster to the stone was a challenge to get a good fit and the raised lettering was no fun at all.

Q4: Easiest part?

I knew from the beginning that I wanted to create the power of that look.  That simplicity, filled with depth and story.

Q5: What did you learn from the making of this piece?

I had no idea how I would get the effect I wanted at first, but I think I got it! I know exactly when it happened. First, I decided to define the pupils of her eyes, just a little. Then I defined the cheek bones with a little more depth and she came to life. She suddenly had history and presence and story. Thank you carving gods!!!

If I sell the piece, I will donate the proceeds to Amplifier.org which is where the poster was produced. They are a non-profit that creates art that helps amplify the important movements of our time.