The Learning Curve: TBSSS Students' Marble Carving Trip to Carrara

Four students of the Tom Bass Sculpture Studio School recently participated in a 10-11 day workshop in Italy, led by Usama Alnassar, who visits Australia to conduct specialised marble carving workshops at TBSSS every January.

The workshop took place in Usama’s open air atelier, in the scenic foothills of Carrara, Italy, which was just under 10 minutes drive from the town. The TBSSS students who attended—Carol Crawford, Anthony Mitchell, Juliet Cohen, and Bethany Hoyt—worked alongside students of many different nationalities in Alnassar's outdoor studio. The experience was deeply immersive and intense with the sounds of marble being mined and occasionally pushed down the hillside serving as a backdrop while they were carving.

Over the course of 10-11 days, they dedicated themselves to their sculptures under Alnassar’s guidance. The days were long (and sometimes frustrating), but time seemed to fly as each sculpture took shape. The TBSSS participants worked on diverse pieces: Anthony and Bethany created beautiful and sensitive portraits, Juliet focused on ambitious multi-piece assemblages, and Carol created an abstract self portrait 'mother-and-child’ out of a unique piece of blue/purple-veined Carrara marble. Every day was physically demanding but also invigorating, as everyone focused on completing as much of their pieces within the finite time they had.

Pictured above: Carol Crawford, Juliet Cohen and Usama Alnassar, Bethany Hoyt, Anthony Mitchell.

Thank you to Carol Crawford for this article.