Personal Response to Tony Cragg

I have chosen to look at the artist Tony Cragg, a sculptural artist from Liverpool. I particularly like his sculptures because of the shapes he uses. The main, basic shapes he uses are usually fairly simple but through repetition or the composition, I find the pieces look very successful. Rather than colour or pattern for example, Tony Cragg uses shape as the main focus of his pieces which is why the pieces are usually one plain colour. I think this works well because it means your attention isn't diverted onto something which isn't the main aspect of his artwork. I believe all Tony Cragg's sculptures to be skilfully well made as I think they all look very precise and have smooth edges and curves which are essential to make the shapes appear even more effortless.

Tony Cragg's Sculptures

The main piece of Tony Cragg's which I looked at was the sculpture pictured below called 'Red Square'. I found the way that this piece looks as if it's one piece of material which has been twisted around into different shapes really intriguing. It made me immediately want to experiment more with paper and find all the different shapes and forms I could make with it by twisting it around and through itself. The small gap all the way around the piece also interested me because it made me think about how we will never know what's on the inside of the piece. He has left a small gap for us to look through but there's not enough room for us to fully explore the inside of the piece and see if he's left anything hidden inside.

'Red Square' - Tony Cragg

Based on this piece I created my own response using paper. I tried to include the natural shapes and curves which Tony Cragg uses and not force the paper too much by folding or scrunching it as that way it would lose the natural beauty. I also chose to use plain paper as, much like Tony's work, this would lead to the focus being on the forms created. Finally, the main piece of inspiration I took from the 'Red Square' piece was the viewer not being able to know what was inside. I deliberately made the sides of my piece higher than the middle therefore from all side angles - except one which gives a brief glimpse of what's inside - the piece looks very plain. However, when viewed from above, you can see straight into all the layers beneath. It gives the viewers the chance to explore the whole piece of they are willing to investigate it and look from all angles.

View from front

View from back

View from top

There are many similarities between Barbara Hepworth and Tony Cragg's work as they both create natural, large, round sculptures. However, I think where Cragg's work may be slightly more detailed with the shapes being repeated or curving in and out and twisting around itself, Hepworth's work is generally plainer with one large shape. She also often likes to use large holes in her sculptures where Tony Cragg doesn't. Because her sculptures are larger and plainer, I think these holes are successful as they provide a break from the thick main piece and make it seem lighter. Because Tony Cragg's sculptures aren't made of such a bulk of material, I don't think the holes would be as successful in his work.

Barbara Hepworth