The Sculptor’s Studio

Project Progress

Visit this page often to see photos and videos showing the progress of the sculpture and to learn more about the artist’s process. 

Sculpture Concept: It Starts With an Idea

As ever, the project starts with empty space, and an idea... An empty workspace...but not for long! Before I can start on the figure, I need to make the base. In this case, the figure ...
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Sculpture Base: The Bench

But the work has only just begun... Bench piece with finished brackets. Once all of the wood is cut, the brackets epoxied into place, and I've had a successful dry fit, it's time to take ...
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Sculpture Posture: The Armature

Making the Armature Figure for the piece... We start by bending the steel rods for the armature. One challenge in the making of this statue, is designing it to be dismantled for moving, and for ...
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Sculpture Posture: The Body

Remember, trust the process... Expanding foam is a great option for sculpting; minus the curing time. Once the welded steel armature is set, I cover the whole thing in layers of expanding spray foam. Over ...
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Sculpture Details: The Clothing

Time to dress and accessorize! With armature fixed, I began to bulk up the cores, and prepare for clothing. Chelsea boots went on. I began to set a base lines for end lines on appendages. ...
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Sculpture Details: Making Some Revisions

A Perfectionist's work is never done... The left hand, holding the sketchpad, felt awkward once I really paid attention to the gesture line from wrist, past the radius, through the humorous, and up into the ...
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Videos

About the Sculptor

Gage Prentiss

Gage is a sculptor and painter living and working in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He graduated with a BFA in Sculpture from Boston University in 1999, and has been exploring the feelings of place, presence and wonder through his art ever since. When he began as an artist, he was driven to make tangible objects from things experienced in dreams, to make the presence in his head stand in the room. Gage worked figuratively using the rich language of human gesture, nuance, balance and context to say a lot with very little. These figures usually broke down or transformed in different ways to capture a revolving sense of beauty and repulsiveness in the protean dualities of dream logic.

He explored himself and the world through the fun-house lens of his subconscious with welded steel, plaster, and resin. It wasn’t till Gage moved to Rhode Island that he really began to feel a deep sense of place. This gave him a new artistic drive and inspired him to capture the vistas, ghosts, and personalities around the State. Most recently, Gage created a bust of E.M. Bannister that was gifted to the Providence Art Club and is on exhibit in the Founder’s Room.

Be part of history and help us celebrate Edward Mitchell Bannister by making a contribution to this exciting project

The Providence Art Club will serve as the Bannister project’s fiscal agent/administrator and will work with like-minded nonprofits, such as RISD, to develop programs that advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. This community-wide art project will create a broader platform for community engagement and promote Bannister’s historic role through educational programming, a call for public art, and discussion of a Bannister scholarship.