Paul Bloch

On a Winter's Night, 2024, carrara marble,13h x 12w x 10d in., base 12 x 12 x 2 in.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Paul Bloch has been creating sculptures in marble and limestone, as well as bronze, for over forty years. He works directly with the material utilizing the given volume and maximizing the limits of the stone. Bloch’s sculpture is improvisational; his first inspiration was jazz. Twelve years in Carrara, Italy honed his skills, and Italy's artistic heritage clarified his vision. Paul Bloch was born in New York and studied anthropology, music and sculpture in Cleveland, Ohio. He moved to California in the early 1970′s and began to seriously pursue a career as a sculptor. For three years he assisted the West Coast sculptor, James Pristine. In 1994 Bloch received an Athena Foundation Grant to sculpt at the Mark di Suvero Studio in New York City. Bloch has exhibited in California, New York and Santa Fe, New Mexico, as well as Italy and Switzerland.

ARTIST STATEMENT

"I began carving in 1974 and have always worked directly (without a model) utilizing the volume of the material and maximizing the limits of the stone.

My sculpture is improvisational -- my first inspiration was jazz. In my early years in Berkeley, where so many of my colleagues were doing additive sculpture in metal or ceramics, I learned to treat the stone like a piece of chewing gum which I could pull, push and bend in any direction.

Twelve years in Carrara, Italy honed my skills and Italy's artistic heritage clarified my vision. I carved mellifluous musical compositions in Marble. The balance and tension between negative and positive space and the infinite with the finite were -- and still are -- my sculptural concerns.

I've also been rendering imaginary planet surfaces first inspired by satellite photographs of other planets and their moons. these pieces are fascinating to me because of their micro-macroscopic ambiguity.

Stone is a fundamental material. As a man and artist, it is my goal to transform that substance into beauty and give something back to the cosmos."

Inquire about available artwork here or call 505-372-7681

Mingus, 2024, carrara marble, 13h x 12w x 9.85d in., base 13 x 12 x 2 in.

Trippel, 2023, bronze, ed. 3/7, 11h x 18w x 10d in.

Neutron Star Sculpture, 2015, petite granite, 13 x 13 x 13 in.

Grey Etude, 2007, carrara bardiglio marble, 24h x 13w x 12d in.