Client: St. Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Church

Overview

This sculpture depicts St. Theresa of Calcutta when she encountered an orphan. Her hand embraces the child’s face with compassion and love as they meet atop a step. She is holding the child’s hand as the child embraces St. Theresa. This sculpture is life size in cast bronze and sits on a black granite base.

Goals

The client committee wanted St. Theresa to be portrayed in a moment of loving encounter with an orphan child she served. This sculpture setting is within the courtyard of the parish, centered with the entryway to the church and the entry points to the courtyard and to be viewed from 3 vantage points. That meant the non-frontal views needed to draw the viewer around the piece (when entering from the sides of the courtyard). The client initially wanted a large bronze crucifix as part of the sculpture to connect the figure with their faith. Aesthetically it didn’t work with the composition, as an alternative to this we created a crucifix that was affixed to the building behind the piece.

Process

The client committee met at my studio to discuss the project. At the time of the meeting, the courtyard area where the sculpture was to be installed was undeveloped so a site visit was postponed until further development. From the initial meeting, a clay sketch was developed for the piece prior to contracting the sculpture. The committee viewed and approved the sketch and we enlarged the sculpture to life size. Once the committee approved of the final modeling, the piece cast and delivered to the parish for installation.