William A. Clark 1925

This marble bust, ‘William A. Clark,’ was crafted by Bryant Baker. Look how Baker coaxed the stone into existence, chipping away, revealing the figure like a thought emerging from the unconscious. I can almost feel the cool dust coating my fingers as the sculptor carved each curl of Clark's hair. Can you imagine the hours spent rendering the folds of his jacket? The subtle planes of his face? It's a dance between control and surrender, isn't it? You try to get it right, but the stone has a mind of its own. The way the light catches the marble makes me think of Bernini and those Baroque sculptures that seem to defy gravity. Though more restrained, Baker shares that desire to breathe life into stone, to capture something eternal in a fleeting form. It’s this dialogue across time that makes art so enduring.