While many other sculptors often make their works on materials such as wood, stone, etc., artist Brad Spencer in the US chooses for himself a different material, which is…brick.
Brad Spencer is one of the very few artists in the world who sculpts on brick. Spencer graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Sculpture, he has been working as a sculptor since 1984.
During his previous career in painting, he approached sculpture as an elective course, through which he officially found his true career.
Spencer’s main “tools” include clay, mortar, cement, and copper. In 1989, he began experimenting with sculpting on bricks, which allowed him to apply and combine the experience in the painting industry that he had studied.
To perform a certain project, Spencer would sculpt his work on unburnt live bricks, then extract the work into pieces before firing the cooked bricks.
When the bricks were cooked, he proceeded to assemble the pieces together using mortar to form a complete work. In particular, he enjoyed doing his work in front of the public, even allowing viewers to manually place 1 or 2 bricks.
Spencer has done many sculptures in public places such as the city of Charlotte, the town of Greenville, SC, or Asheville. Take a look at some of his works through a series of photos: