concrete (cast in stone)

If some years back anyone had asked me if I wanted to work in concrete it would have made me raise my eyebrows. Yet, a couple of years ago in Berlin I saw sculptures made by Wilhelm Lehmbruck in 1918 and I absolutely loved it. The label said, “cast in stone”. It was cast concrete.

Concrete has lots of great qualities suited for 3-D art. When making art, different mixtures of cement, sand, aggregates and water are used . During its curing process, concrete properties change from soft as clay to hard as plaster to even harder like stone. At any stage, there are ways to work with it. It can be finished with patinas, tints, stains for color and it can be polished to a bronze look or left rough as unglazed clay. It can be cast using a mold or modeled directly. It is a very versatile material.  The disadvantage of concrete sculpture is that it can be heavy. As a plus, concrete is a strong and inexpensive material. And it is quite beautiful!