Even though this pillow appears to be soft and elegant, placing your head on it in bed would definitely cause you a headache.
Hkon Anton Fagers, a Norwegian sculptor, is well known for his exquisite and hyperrealistic marble works. Fager’s is able to carve big white pillows out of blocks of marble using a pneumatic hammer and other carving instruments. These pillows have smooth folds and curves that give them the appearance of being made of fabric and filler only.
In a conversation with Sculpture Atelier, Fagers described his thought process.
“I think that my main focus is to create an atmosphere, a sensation, more than a literal representation of something that expresses, for instance, fragility,” he said.
Fager begins his creative process by sketching out concepts in various pencil sketches. Once he has an idea for a sculpture, he creates a miniature version of it. He usually creates a second half-size sculpture before switching to marble for human sculptures or busts.
Fagers claims that it is hard for him to listen to music while working with marble. While working with clay, he will listen to jazz, but marble sculpture is too noisy. Fager’s prefers to utilise exceptionally sharp chisels in broader sizes compared to other carvers.
“Patience is really, really crucial,” Fagerås continued. “And a marble sculpture — like the one I’m doing now — will just get better if I work another week. So that can be a little bit discouraging at times because, well another day, another week on this one … it can be quite tiresome.