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Q&A: The Courtyard SculptureWho is the sculptor?
What style of art is Ray known for? He is known for his montage pencil drawings and oil paintings. He has done scenic paintings of the Southwest and national parks. His paintings have been commissioned for groups such as the Phoenix Suns on their 25th anniversary, America West Airlines (now U.S. Airways), Valparaiso University on its 125th anniversary, and the Joe Foss Institute honoring General Joe Foss. His painting, “Desert Storm,” is part of the Bush Presidential Library collection. The statue at La Casa is Ray’s first sculpture. What is Ray’s connection to La Casa de Cristo? Ray is good friends of John Groh, a longtime member of La Casa, real estate agent and ordained Lutheran clergyman. John had spoken with Ray in the 1980s about designing paraments for the church (altar cloths etc.), but the project never came to fruition. Last year, Ray was contacted about creating a 150-percent life-size sculpture for the courtyard from a model he had created in the late 1980s. When did he begin the sculpture? In 1988, Ray created a maquette, or model, for the sculpture using as inspiration for the boy his then 3-year-old son Matthew. Before moving to Tucson, he placed the maquette in a box, where it remained for years. Ray and his family moved to Indiana, then Maryland. After being asked last year to pursue the sculpture, he pulled out the box and found that Jesus’ head had been damaged, an arm had fallen off, and the boy lay at the bottom in scraps. He went to work restoring the maquette. How was it transformed into a bronze? The process involved a new technology. In past years, artists sculpted their work in actual size using wire mesh and clay. Instead, Ray took the maquette to The Crucible Foundry in Norman, Okla., where it was cut into about a dozen pieces. A rubber mold was made of each piece, and a plaster version made from each mold. Each plaster piece was attached to a spindle, and its surface was scanned in detail by a laser beam and recorded in a computer. A machine carved a 150-percent enlarged shape of each piece out of foam. The foam pieces were glued together, and the statue was then sprayed with a special liquefied clay invented by John Soderberg, a renowned Sedona sculptor. John has been a friend and mentor of Ray’s for over 20 years. Ray spent three weeks in Norman over Christmas break working on detail, adding new touches, inventing as he went along. “All the way along on this, there has always been prayer,” Ray said. “God, just please guide me on this and tell me what to do.” The finished design was taken apart again, a mold was made of each piece, and wax was poured in. Each wax piece was dipped repeatedly into a liquid, then a silica substance, until a rock-like shell was created. The piece was heated in a kiln, melting the wax inside and leaving a negative shape. Molten bronze was poured in and the rock shell knocked off. The pieces were reassembled, and a patina was added. What was Ray trying to accomplish in the sculpture? The title of the sculpture is “Friends.” Ray says he wanted to convey most of all that we are Christ’s children. “He takes us into his arms and protects us,” he said. “He’s a savior to us whatever century we live in.” If you walk around the sculpture, you may notice a number of features, including: The contrast of Jesus’ historical dress with the boy’s modern clothing (blue jeans and tennis shoes)
The Bible verses that came to Ray’s mind were Mark 10:10-12: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” A limited edition of small bronzes is now being cast from the maquette molds by The Crucible Foundry. Anyone interested in a small bronze may contact Ray directly, at rlmfrazee at msn.com. For more information on Ray Martens and photos of the sculpture model, go to www.raymartens.com -- This article contributed by David Fritze, a member of the congregation.
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His name is Ray Martens, who lives in Columbia, Maryland, with his wife Prisca. Ray and Prisca are a lifelong Lutherans and teach at Towson University. He teaches art education and she teaches early childhood literacy. Ray lived in Arizona for nearly 25 years, until 1995. He attended Valparaiso University in Indiana in the mid-1960s, then obtained a B.F.A. in Minneapolis. He moved to the Phoenix area to earn master’s (1972) and doctorate (1979) degrees at Arizona State University. He was an art teacher at Litchfield Elementary School (1973-80), and a part-time art teacher for the Tucson school district (1991-95). While in Litchfield, he helped found Trinity Lutheran Church. In 1980, he was named an official artist for the U.S. Air Force art program.
