Sculpture

Sculptures in marble

After several years with the hard granite, Erik was in 2000 inspired to work with the beautiful white marble. The best place to learn is in the Italian marble districts, so he drove to Pietrasanta with his car full of tools and clay sketches. The town holds around 14 sculpture workshops. Within a month he completed three marble sculptures and bought two pallets of marble blocks (around 2 tons) to take home for further work.

Material: White marble from Pietrasanta
All works are unique – one exemplar only
All sculptures are signed

The working process

From model to block: The dimensions of the clay sculpture are scaled up to make use of the marble block, and the essential lines are sketched directly on the stone.
Carving technique: Rough shaping is done with an angle grinder that cuts grooves into the marble, which are then split off. Much of the work is done with a Marchello pneumatic hammer and tooth chisels.
Grinding & finish: Carborundum grit 60 and 80, then diamond sponge up to grit 80 and hand sanding with grit 60 sandpaper – this gives a beautiful, slightly dusty surface.

Erik Lemcke carving into a marble block with hammer and chisel, wearing a dust mask — Erik in his workshop

The works

The marble sculpture Luna — Luna
White marble, matte-glossy polished · 2003

The marble sculpture Lytte with a curved form and an opening — Lytte
White marble, matte-glossy polished · H57x37x36

The marble sculpture Big brother and little brother — Big brother and little brother
White marble, matte-glossy polished · H62x44x38 · 2003

The marble sculpture Saturn with two curved forms and an opening — Saturn
White marble, matte-glossy polished

The granite sculpture Big brother and little brother in two parts — Big brother and little brother
Grey granite

The marble sculpture Transformation with a Möbius-like wave form — Transformation
White marble, polished