DAVID UNGER

 

 

 

          Sculpture should be touched!

          You should run your hands over my sculptures and feel the curves and angles. Hopefully, the energy I imparted through my hands when I formed the piece will be transmitted to you.

          If the viewer of my art can feel the force of the figure taking shape and coming to life as I created it from clay, then I have achieved something truly magical – I have created a successful sculpture.

          I have worked in wood and wire and stone, but I prefer clay. With clay’s malleability, I can feel the motion and fluidity, the power and sensitivity with my hands.

          Much of my art is a response to human relationships. As a result, my major themes are love, love of human form, romance and passion. I constantly observe people. I am inspired by human movement and interaction.

          My observations of people give me daily inspirations for new pieces, and I am always working on at least five or six pieces at a time.

          The hardest part about sculpting is recognizing when a piece is done. You have to be able to walk away at the right time. Otherwise, you risk overworking the sculpture and losing its power and strength.

          Life is not always how it looks, but often how I sense it to be and instill it into my work.

          Through a combination of contemporary rounded surfaces, planes and angles, I impose a gentle emotion of two figures in relationship to one another. Just the slightest bending of heads, or angles of bodies toward each other can convey a tenderness or a relationship.

          The art is to sense the way people interact with each other and to be able to transmit this feeling from my mind to my hands, and finally, to a finished clay sculpture. The medium of clay best allows me to put myself and my emotions into the piece and feel the form coming to life.

          While my passion has always been creating art with my hands, for more than thirty-five years, my wife and I lived in Ohio where we manufactured small industrial wheels for hand trucks, wheelbarrows, boat trailers and golf carts. We shipped all over the world, and we produced more than 10,000 assorted wheels every day.

          Today, my wife, Kathryn, and I live in Tucson, Arizona, near Sabino Canyon at the foot of the Santa Catalina Mountains. We have been married since 1965; have two adult children and six grandchildren.

          I was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1941, and became interested in sculpture at the age of 11 when my father introduced me to internationally renowned sculptor Chaim Gross.

          During my college years, I continued to refine my natural artistic abilities in life drawing classes and studied under well-known sculptor Peter Lipman-Wulf who is known for his iconic work, “Wedding Rings.”

          My fascination with the human form continues to permeate my daily life. I am always observing people making mental snapshots, anxious to get back to my studio to begin a new sculpture. 

          Overall, I want my figures to express a Joy of Life.