Sculpture Terms

• Sculpture – the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions.
• Plastic Arts – art forms which involve physical manipulation of a plastic medium by molding or modeling such as sculpture or ceramics.
• Relief Sculpture – from the Latin verb relevo, to raise, a sculpture technique which creates the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above a flat background plane.
• Sculpture in the Round – a type of sculpture which is presented in complete three-dimensional form and are not attached to a flat background (unlike relief).
• Subtractive Sculpture – sculpture techniques that involve removing material to create a finished work, such as wood carving or stone sculpture.
• Additive Sculpture – the process of creating sculpture by adding material to create the work, such as molding and modeling.
• Carving - a subtractive process that involves removing unwanted portions of the raw materials to reveal the form that the artist has visualized.
• Modeling - an additive process of building the forms by using highly plastic materials such as clay or wax.
• Casting - a complex additive process wherein a negative mold is created.
• Bas or low relief - the quality of a projecting image where the overall depth is shallow.  The background is very compressed or completely flat, as on most coins, on which all images are in low-relief.
• Sculpture in the Round - sculpture that can be seen from more than one position.