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
In addition to the stone/clay based works that you might be thinking of, I find certain metalworking sculptures to be interesting, too. Alexander Calder made a bunch of red steel sculptures, almost architectural art, in addition to things like dynamic mobiles. Louise Bourgeois’s “Maman” is an interesting one, too.
There are small metal sculptures, too. From little trinkets made from wire, to welded metal parts, to elaborate chandeliers, these all involve artistic creativity in manipulating materials in a three dimensional space, and it’s a skillset that I admire and respect (and do not have any, myself).