I’m confident the answer to the initial question is “yes”, but in my little corner of the world I’ve never met a sculptor - no students, no teachers, no amateurs or professionals - and I don’t recall hearing about significant sculptures being erected anywhere in the last few decades.
Sculpting fascinates me, but I’m totally ignorant of how it works. If you’re a sculptor -
- when/how did you start? Do you start with clay and pottery?
- How do you “practice”? Play-doh? Gotta imagine it’s different based on your preferred medium?
- do artists still use marble? Seems like it’d be insanely expensive & one mistake screws the whole thing up
Of course there are still sculptors around! Like most art sculptures have gotten more abstract tho. Visit any museum of modern Art and you are sure to find some!
Marble and the like are of course incredibly expensive, and for that reason most people stick to more affordable options like wood or ice. Or do additive sculpting with clay/plaster, welding or something like that. If you really want to work with stone you might want to apprentice with a stonemason.
How did I start? Took a pocketknife in my hand and started whittling. The foundations of working in a subtractive manner are largely independent of material.