Photo-sculpture as a Medium
Matt Gatton made a series of influential photo-sculptures, beginning in the 1980s, that involved considerable experimentation with materials. Subsequent practitioners of photo-sculpture, most notably Brno Del Zou, Osang Gwon, and Oliver Herring, carry on the tradition and elevate the medium.
Gatton photographs his sitters from all angles, and then makes a portrait bust in plaster, clay, papier-mache, cast plastic, or glass.
Once the bust is complete, Gatton collages the photographs onto the surface of the sculpture.
Slowly, the portrait emerges. The “life” of this work is the result of a multitude of light and angle shifts for every plane of the face. It takes months to complete a portrait.
Photographs of the final photo-sculpture are then shot from many angles using a large format camera. Images from those shoots are printed on aluminum sheets using dye sublimation.