Danielle Krcmar, Babson artist in residence, is a sculptor fascinated with figures and the study of movement and expression. Krcmar, who creates art using a range of sculptural media and reclaimed or found materials, is inspired by human anatomy and the structural similarities among living things.
Recently, she sculpted gargoyles (shown here) for a church in southern Illinois that had been leveled by a tornado and was being rebuilt in the Gothic style. However, this 21st century request for an art form popular in the Middle Ages was not her first. In 2008, an architectural firm that Krcmar previously had worked with contacted her to create gargoyles for a church renovation near New Orleans. For that project, Krcmar sculpted two figures; each was professionally cast twice in concrete to make four gargoyles.
When the same firm accepted the project in Illinois, it reached out to Krcmar again. The request was for griffins, a mythical creature that combines a lion and an eagle, but with some stipulations. “The church wanted the bird part of the gargoyle to be dominant,” she says. Krcmar thinks the community wanted to capture the strength of the eagle and its ability to soar, attributes the community may have needed after the tornado. The gargoyles, just 36 inches from beak to tail, also were to be functioning downspouts, with the forms accommodating a drainpipe. “Working on the engineering aspect was a challenge,” she says, “but it was a pleasure to do a lot of fun research.”
When creating the gargoyle, Krcmar sculpted the figure in Plasticine, an oil-based clay that never dries. “Plasticine can be heated to make it loose and can be carved when it cools,” Krcmar explains. “Then a mold was created from the original sculpture.”
Copyright Danielle KrcmarDanielle Krcmar, artist in residence at Babson, puts the finishing touches on a mosaic obelisk, “Things Worth Remembering,” at Boston’s historic Forest Hills Cemetery. Created from steel and cement, the obelisk is covered with found pieces of ceramics, many from South Boston’s Carson Beach, as well as donated personal memorabilia. An obelisk often is a formal commemorative monument, but this more informal sculpture, says Krcmar, serves to connect the past and present.
Copyright Danielle KrcmarOne of three “Resting Benches” at Forest Hills Cemetery from a project on which Krcmar collaborated with artist Lisa Osborn. Krcmar says the Victorian-style beds offer a place to rest and create conversation.
Copyright Danielle KrcmarVarious objects and tools, which Krcmar sculpted from modeled concrete, hang from a tree in Boston’s Forest Hills Cemetery. Krcmar created the project, “Favorite Things,” in 2003 for an exhibit entitled “Revisited.”
Copyright Danielle KrcmarIn 2007, the Massachusetts architectural firm of Cram and Ferguson contacted Krcmar for a series of reliefs, 22 in all, for St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. Among them was a half-circle bas-relief, shown here, over an exterior door of the church’s facade. “Jesus and the Little Children” was first sculpted in Plasticine and then cast in concrete. Says Krcmar, “The architectural firm reached out to me because I had taught figure sculpture at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.”
Copyright Danielle Krcmar“Pentecost,” which depicts a dove and takes its name from the Christian holiday, is on the facade of St. John Neumann Catholic Church. “I needed to represent Pentecost in a manner that was as streamlined as possible but would still work with the overall French Romanesque influence of the building,” says Krcmar. “The dove is the symbol of the Holy Spirit, and the flames represent the presence of the Holy Spirit coming to the apostles.
Copyright Danielle KrcmarKrcmar created “Fragment House” in 2012 for the Dartmouth [Massachusetts] Natural Resources Trust. The welded-steel and beach-glass house is currently on display at Highfield Hall and Gardens, a historic site on Cape Cod in Falmouth. “Each fragment of beach glass, which I found at Carson Beach in Boston, was individually tied into a wire framework to create the walls,” says Krcmar.
Copyright Danielle KrcmarA poem by Mary Pinard, professor of English at Babson, is etched in the window opposite the door of the beach-glass house. “I admire Mary’s poetry, especially ‘Song Net for an Estuary,’ 15 linked sonnets about her brother, who drowned in a tragic tugboat accident,” says Krcmar. “Because ‘Fragment House’ was commissioned as a project for the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust, which is adjacent to an estuary, I was excited to respond to the site together with Mary.”
Historically, gargoyles were made from stone or, more recently, with reinforced concrete. But, in this case, the already heavy concrete might have become unstable with a drainpipe as part of the structure. So sturdy and lightweight fiberglass was chosen. Because working with fiberglass resin is toxic, four identical griffins were cast in fiberglass from the mold by a professional firm, and the material was tinted and textured to blend with the church.
Krcmar loved the gargoyle assignments and the dialogue between the customers’ vision and her interpretation. “It was strangely liberating to work on something that wasn’t my own idea,” she says. “It was a mix of detachment and investment and research.” Though she misses having the gargoyles in her studio, she is happy they are where they will be seen. “This work is out in the public sphere, in the landscape, creating dialogue.”
Danielle Krcmar, Babson artist in residence, is a sculptor fascinated with figures and the study of movement and expression. Krcmar, who creates art using a range of sculptural media and reclaimed or found materials, is inspired by human anatomy and the structural similarities among living things.
