Biography:
Russ Moody was first introduced to great, figurative sculpture at age fifteen, during a visit to a local museum with his high school art class. On display were the Vancouver collection of terra cotta models, believed at the time to be by the hand of Michelangelo. These small terra cotta models had a profound effect on me. I remember staring at a small study of a hand, almost expecting the fingers to twitch. I thought at the time, "This is art". I began copying the collection and learning stone carving. One day the owner of the collection knocked on my door. He had brought a copy of his book of the "Michelangelo Models" and introduced himself. We remained friends for years until his passing. We would talk for hours about sculpture and the importance of those terra cotta studies. The book he signed and gave to me that first day, is a cherished possession. Plaster casts of the collection are on display in the Casa Buonarroti in Florence.
While attending art school in Vancouver, the art history instructor projected a slide of Bernini's Pluto and Persephone on the screen. It was seeing the hand of Pluto, gripping the leg of Persephone and making hard stone seem like soft flesh that my eyes were fully opened to sculpture. I finished art school and immediately headed to Italy. Not only did I view as much great sculpture as possible, I began studying the methods of carving stone in the studios of Pietrasanta and later in the studios of Carrara. In recent years I travelled on the back roads of the hills above Carrara, visiting sculptors who have lived and breathed sculpture their whole lives, making friends along the way and learning more about carving the marble that comes from the mountains.
I have been a professional sculptor for years now, including over ten years as a sculptor in the movie industry as well as carving numerous sculptures in styrofoam for displays in water parks around the world. The challenge of carving for water parks is, we are always carving a vast variety of subjects for clients from Disney, to Legoland as well as for water parks in China, France and California which only helps me in my skills which I use in my stone carving.
I now practice stone carving in a studio in Vancouver where I carve marble and occasionally alabaster. I still refer to the Michelangelo terra cotta models to never forget that first inspiration. As often as I can, I travel back to Carrara to share studio space there and carve alongside the best sculptors you will find today.
Sculptures in Stone, terra cotta, alabaster and bronze
