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| A small element |
I am endlessly fascinated to hear the story about how artists found their talents and when. At one moment, Bricker brought down a model airplane-- his first project. He had built this airplane as a boy from balsa wood, even making the detailed rivets by snapping off the heads of pins to line the wings. He demonstrated the spring-loaded machine guns that can be moved in and out. It was this project that got him recognized and led him into the formal training that taught him the basic mechanics of his trade which now seem so integrated with his being that they could seem to be his oxygen. He is far from this airplane now, having built bronze monuments. It's hard not to think that from these humble beginnings, Bricker was lucky. His talent was identified early and he never wanted to be anything else. He thinks and expresses himself spatially. His story about the Spitfire is inspiring. Later, he admitted he has rarely if ever shown it to visitors.
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| Robert Bricker and his early work of the WWII Spitfire |
He explains as we walk on about the stations: "This is the painting area". One of his apprentices is working on massive paintings that document the work of the foundry. They are large, detailed, and have a loose impressionistic style while capturing the ones who pour the metal. Beautiful work, I think. Beautiful work.
Bricker admonished me in the parking lot to keep my jacket on with a jocular quip. The complex is too large to heat and it seemed to be in the high 40's as we marveled at the art all around. He takes us to the wax room and it is something of a relief. We had been experiencing a 'cold snap' and Robert Bricker tells that his beard is his last line of defense on these cold days. If you're going to do this physical work, you've got to be tough and dedicated. This insulated room is kept at a precise temperature at which the molding wax transforms from hard to malleable in your hands and with fine steel tools that litter the benches.
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| Bricker Hands out Wax in the Wax Room |
Wax is the beginning of these major bronze projects and he explains some basics about the mechanics of how wax must be carved hollow to make finished bronze sculptures. I work a piece of warm wax in my hand and I see that it is easy to move and re-form. But I also watch his hands which move with far greater dexterity gliding with muscle memory. It's clear that he has plied many a block of wax.
We move on into the heart of the bronze-making part of what he playfully describes as an "art factory". Most of the equipment here has been hand-built. When Robert needs to move a large piece, he has tracks along the ceiling and mechanical hoists to reduce the toll on his shoulders. He explains that this is not a solo gig. He has many talented artists who work beside him in the process. Most of these apprentices are highly talented artists in their own right and he is quick to extoll that those who work with him are masters themselves, some college professors, for example who are educating the next generation. In the bronze casting area, we see the furnace that melts the bronze alloy, a massive bin of granulated silica (a component of the bronze alloy), and bins of waste sprues that can be remelted in a future project. It is here that we see some of the newest elements of his major opus that is inspired by mythology and slowly piece by painstaking piece coming into reality. Every element, like the scarab shown earlier, is a sculpture itself. He asks me to feel the texture of a 'wood' element and I am inspired to feel the wood grain completely smooth but with an intricate wood grain carved into its surface that his mold has picked up from the wax.
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| The Casting Area of the Bricker Complex |
Bricker takes us on to see some of the remains of old projects-- plaster moulds that have been built layer upon layer to build the basis of his bronze works. He casts not just for himself, but for a myriad of artists, institutions, government, and even rockstars that will not be named. In this area, we can see some of his monuments which are on the boardwalk of a mid-Atlantic beach, the immediately recognizable bust of Obama by respected sculptor, George Tkabladze, and a larger than life Abraham Lincoln looks on worriedly. Bricker demonstrates his "planter", really a large scale two handled urn that is both classic and timeless. Its images are classic Bricker leaning on the stuff of Greek legend but thoroughly modern. "I guarantee it for 2,000 years or 1,800 degrees" he says with playful eyes. "After 2,000 years, it's on its own!"
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| Plaster Remnants of the Casting Process |
In point of fact, I had business with Bricker, my project seeming tiny in comparison to the many works of literally monumental scale he has completed. After all, when the Iwo Jima monument separated with a massive crack, it was Bricker who was called on with his torch to remediate this monument of our national pride. Nonetheless, he is not dismissive of the project but instead said that I had probably fulfilled an artist's greatest wish that her work would be preserved in bronze. I had found a wax carving by Grace Gorlitz while passing through a Kensington, MD antique store, West Howard Antiques. Gorlitz was a female artist working in the Washington, DC area, and I was lucky to buy several of her wax carvings. I sent the best one to Bricker and he cast this large woman, hair drawn back, and staring to the sky. Bricker poured the bronze using the lost wax method. It was a one shot deal, meaning that the wax copy would be destroyed and I, the owner, would still only have one copy of the work. When I questioned his risky approach, Bricker said "I like living on the edge!" Of course, it turned out perfect. Now it is good for 2,000 years and will be one of the permanent records of this fine artist's work, subject to Bricker's guaranty.
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| The Bronze Sculpture of Grace Gorlitz |
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