A sculptor with a bent for optical illusion has devised an incredible way to soften rock—or so it would seem to those who behold his work.
Appearing to defy the laws of physics, Spanish artist José Manuel Castro López carves hunks of quartz and granite—some small, some massive—into fluid, undulating forms: folded like fabric; squeezed like soft sofa cushions; pressed; compacted; drawn; wrinkled; twisted; or pinched.
Some of his works are finely polished to mimic a bead of water on stone; others are skillfully aged to defy the senses still further.
The artist removes all traces of the sculptor’s hand with textures and oxides. Yet, sympathetic to the rock’s natural form, López always preserves a portion of untouched texture in every sculpture. This juxtaposition makes the rock look as though it has changed its form naturally and spontaneously.
His ideas also come to him spontaneously.
“But having an idea is fine, the difficulty then is to develop it.”
Some of López’s sculptures employ the ruse of wrinkles and creases. Others defy our sense of texture in cheeky ways: appearing to slice through or even smear solid stone. He occasionally carves wood in a similar fashion. Some more intricate pieces incorporate metal rings or stitches, seeming to manipulate the material in mind-bending ways.
“My relationship with the stone is not only physical but also magical,” López told My Modern Met. “They manifest, they obey me, we understand each other.”
