3/4 head portrait sculpture commission of a young man created after his death.
He died tragically in an accident and his father asked if I would be willing to go to the mortuary to take a death mask from which to sculpt his portrait. It is always emotional and difficult doing post mortem castings and handling a deceased person takes some getting used to. But having done several before including a death mask of my father I am always willing to help a bereaved family.
Death masks in fact are a good basis to work from as they give the right of size and proportion. But they are not a good representation of the vibrant, living soul that they were.
I used photos and stories about the Marcus to conjure a lifelike sculpture, in close collaboration with his father and other family members.
The reason for not doing a complete head in the round are many. If it will be displayed where you don’t see the reverse then there is no point in the extra cost of a full head sculpt. In this case because we took the death mask in his coffin we could only reach just behind the ears so we had no reference for the back besides photos. The family were happy with this as a good solution and it is one I often use with sculpts from death masks.
Material: Fibreglass
Life size