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Body of work
Palo Alto sculptor displays 24 takes on the human figure, from quirky to classical

by Rebecca Wallace

Being an artist's model is no guarantee of immortality. Actually, models might not even recognize themselves in bronze or clay.

Working in the studio one day, Palo Alto sculptor Maria Koretz was inspired by a model's strong stance. The model had her hands pressed against her back, her chest jutting out.

The pose made it into the final bronze sculpture, "Liz Y2K," as did the model's name. But the piece isn't exactly a mirror image of Liz. Koretz added ski boots to the nude model, and goggles pushed up on her forehead. Then she gave her a big pregnant belly.

The resulting work depicts a contemporary woman who is "the ultimate in femininity" — pregnant — but is still actively living her life, out pursuing activities that she loves, Koretz said. "It's a statement on modern womanhood."

Koretz's figurative sculptures are sometimes recognizable; one dignified bronze now in the window of Gallery 9 in Los Altos is of her husband, while the bas-relief "Siblings" on the wall is modeled after a photo of the artist and her brother when they were children. But she says she's not simply replicating what she sees.

It's one thing to display technical skill; it's quite another to also incorporate the way the artist sees the world, whether that's in sculpted emotion, whimsical touches or the sense of a compelling tale behind a face and body. That, she says, is the difference between an artisan and an artist.

In her current solo show at Gallery 9, Koretz is displaying 24 takes on the human body. Some are small, simple depictions that she calls "Gestures." Others, like "Liz Y2K," are larger pieces with more vivid personalities: quirky, melodramatic, elegant.

"The Actor" fairly swoons, his hand pressed to his forehead. His cap boasts a real feather, which Koretz has to regularly replace because her cat eats it. "P.C. Pugilist" is a hardscrabble boxer. In one boxing glove he clutches a flower, and he lowers his broken nose to smell it.

"He's getting in touch with his softer side," Koretz said.

These two pieces, like many of her works, are in bronze, a medium that requires an involved process and a foundry. Typically, Koretz begins by creating a sculpture in oil-based clay. Then a mold is formed around it, from rubber or a similar material. This "negative" mold is used to make a wax "positive," with melted wax poured in. A ceramic mold is made around the wax and then heated so the wax melts again and comes out. Melted bronze is then poured in to form the sculpture. The finished piece looks like gold, and the artist works with a patinater to create the hues of the piece's patina.

The process is costly; Koretz estimates that making a life-size bronze sculpture of a person could cost her $20,000. Bronzes can also be extremely heavy.

Fortunately for her purse, Koretz is also interested in other media. Some of the pieces in the current show are plaster or patinated stoneware (fired clay with a patina that in this case gleams like bronze).

Gallery 9, located on Main Street in downtown Los Altos, is a cooperative gallery where members sign up to have solo shows. Koretz is also involved with the Pacific Art League in Palo Alto — she brings sculptors' models to the league to work with artists, and has exhibited and taken classes there — and has shown her work in the Coupa Cosas shop on Ramona Street.

Koretz clearly enjoys being part of community institutions and says she doesn't aspire to big-name, big-city shows. Retired from the pharmaceutical industry, she's simply enjoying the opportunity to create in her home studio and continue her study of sculpture.

In workshops, which have included a recent session at the Scottsdale Artists' School in Arizona with German realist sculptor Barbel Dieckmann, Koretz prizes the sense of community.

"You learn from other sculptors. ... You live and breathe it," she said. "You can't just work by yourself — you just kind of wind down."

Koretz retains a faint, gentle accent from her native Hungary, which her family left when she was 8, relocating to upstate New York. She's lived in Palo Alto for nearly 30 years.

Clay came into her life when she was in an art class at age 11. "It was love at first touch," she said. "Such an elastic material."

Art took a back seat to her career and family for a long time, although she periodically enrolled in classes. Then, after her son left for college about eight years ago, she went back to art with a course in figurative sculpture at the Pacific Art League.

Koretz's next goal is to put what she learned from Dieckmann about creating large pieces into practice, making life-size sculptures of people in clay. This is a major undertaking on many levels; for one, these pieces are so big that she has to drive to Berkeley to fire them in huge commercial kilns.

Large sculptures also must be carefully planned so that all parts of the body are well supported. With plaster pieces, Koretz often builds steel armatures that provide a sturdy framework. With ceramics, she builds a clay armature, also studiously planned.

"Doing a big piece is kind of like building the Bay Bridge," she said.

What: An exhibition of figurative sculptures by Palo Alto artist Maria Koretz

Where: Gallery 9, 143 Main St., Los Altos

When: Through June 28, open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 11 to 4

Cost: Free

Info: Go to www.gallery9losaltos.com or call 650-941-7969.