Soft Sculpture
Soft sculpture encompasses three-dimensional artworks made from flexible materials like fabric and foam which represent a departure from traditional stone or metal sculptures. The genre developed in the 1960s as artists sought alternatives to conventional sculpture by focusing on soft materials that provided tactile and textured qualities. The creators of soft sculpture actively questioned established ideas about form and materials through their work which merged artistic and craft boundaries. Claes Oldenburg created oversized soft fabric replicas of everyday items that questioned serious art perceptions while Louise Bourgeois produced emotionally resonant textile sculptures which explored memory and trauma themes.
Soft sculpture reached its height of popularity in the 1960s and 1970s when artists adopted experimental and tactile art-making methods related to the larger movement towards conceptual and process-oriented art practices. Soft sculpture gave artists a platform to explore gender and body issues through domestic elements beyond traditional sculpture possibilities. The innovative use of material and form developed in soft sculpture continues to motivate present-day artists who aim to expand the limits of sculptural expression and defy traditional artistic norms. Soft sculpture functions as a dynamic genre that encourages audiences to rethink materiality and their tactile interaction while expanding the limits of artistic expression.
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