In 2002 Calder began to search alternative way to sculpt the human and animal form. He extended lines, expanded planes, reduced texture, detail and sentimentality while still maintaining a loyalty to natural form.
The sculptures that emerged are difficult to define stylistically. There are elements of the abstract, cubism and futurism. Some have an almost stylized art deco feel but are all immediately recognizable as a “Keith Calder”
His most recent large work in this style is of a larger than life-size leopard entitled “Vindicta”. With this piece he has used varying textures and metal degradation which speaks about imperfections in perfection or “Wabi Sabi”. An ancient Chinese philosophy referring to the beauty of imperfection in man-made objects.
More recently, he has been sculpting the human and animal form in a realistic manner. Many of these are of dancers and others are metaphors for the human experience through the use of the animal and the human in one sculptur.
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