How Ishtar Came To Be | Pamela Soldwedel Fine Abstract & Contemporary Sculpture | Soldwedel Sculptures

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Pamela Soldwedel has a spiritual connection with stone. She is inspired by its ancient life history. It was once very much alive, and the artist's goal is to revitalize its massive strength in her abstract sculpture, through transforming the seemingly immutable material into soft forms with supple movements.

Soldwedel abstract metal and bronze sculpture captures the movement of the waters in her flowing forms. Sleekly patinated or mirror finishes, intensified by the rough contrast of her carefully tooled striations, express wind-ruffled ocean surfaces, churning ocean depths, and foam flecked waves.

Pamela Soldwedel's sculptures have evolved into fresh new dimensions with her mixed media abstractions...joinings of layered stone and metal, plastics, glass and wood bring a multitude of expressions to her creations.

How Ishtar Came To Be by Pamela Soldwedel

How "Ishtar" came to be...
It All Started With a Plastilina Clay Maquette 13" High
Pam enlarged the plaster of the Maquette to create a marble "Ishtar" 41" High
Typical quarry face

Looking for the right stone
Taking a sample from quarry face
Looking over blocks and checking samples
Discovering the right stone!

YES!
Wire-sawing to the right size
After being cut to size, the stone was trucked to my studio at the Cathederal Stone Company in Washington.
Being hoisted upright

YEAAAAA!! After carving it to reveal the heart of the block ... A 15,500 lb. healthy stone!!
Pam carving to 1" depth using a pointing instrument to duplicate from the painted plaster working model
Pam carving to 1/2" depth to duplicate from woprking model
Pam carving to 1/4" depth to duplicate from woprking model

Sharpening the details
Smoothing to finished surface using diamond hand pads and lots of water
Hand rubbing with wax
Escorting the sculpture to the 18-wheeler that would haul it to Tysons Corner

Ishtar arrived at Tysons Corner securely fastened to the flat bed of the 18-wheeler
A breathless moment as the now 5,000 lb. sculpture dangled from the crane hook outside the doorway of the installation site
Safely in place and inspected for any scratches or damage from the trip
Pam with the completed sculpture on the finished pedestal in the atrium of the International Gateway, 8100 Boone Blvd., Tysons Corner, VA.

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Pamela Soldwedel Art Gallery of

Mixed Media Abstract Sculptures

For the viewer, something different and fascinating is presented from every angle and every change of light, especially so due to the sculptor's intriguing use of sinuous shapes in her abstract sculptures.

These mixed media sculpture abstractions capture adventurous essences of nature. Lyrical in movement, they are well composed and as beautifully finished as fine jewelry. Each piece gives delight to the eye and touch, and seems imbued with a life of its own. Delicately poised on a minute footprint, there is a sense of tension...there's mystery...there's surprise.