“Inspiration springs from the subconscious and is connected intimately with an obsession for a beloved person.”
--Roland Penrose, The Sculpture of Picasso, The Museum of Modern Art, 1967

The creation of a work of art can be likened to a birth in that the material—be it clay, bone, metal, wax or wood—becomes endowed with ‘life’ via the artist.

A fundamental characteristic of sculpture is its appeal to the sense of touch as well as to sight. A compelling bridge between this appeal and the making of three-dimensional art, is the inherent truth that at its most basic level, the act of creating sculpture is an engagement between hands and the material being modeled. It is our understanding of this relationship that allows for an awareness of the feel of sculpture even when we are restricted from touching it.

This quality of knowing via the sense of touch, even when something cannot be held, was operating on more than one level at the time I created the first Brooklyn Bambini baby figurine.

I was about to become a father for the first time. Modeling that first baby sculpture and then casting it in silver helped mitigate things I couldn’t yet know and in modeling that original figure I was also discovering the infant form for the first time, as both an artist and father.

Our baby sculptures are talismans in this regard; they are objects of veneration, inspired by and imbued with the quality of love that comes from devotion to both a person and an ideal. In the case of Brooklyn Bambini, the prospect is our belief in the combined power of the love of family and creativity.