Sculpture Course
Students will learn how to:
• Roll and shape sculptural slabs
• Use patterns to build a hollow base for the head and torso
• Sculpt the major planes of the face and body
• Add and refine eyes, nose, mouth, ears, shoulders, and gesture
• Develop individual expression, style, and texture
• Prepare work safely for electric-kiln firing
This class includes demonstrations, step-by-step guidance, and supportive critique. Whether your style leans realistic, abstract, or symbolic, you’ll finish with a meaningful, personal figurative sculpture ready for firing.
• Skill Level: Beginners welcome
• Intermediate students encouraged
• Materials: Sculptural clay included
• Final Project: One slab-built sculpture (head + torso), fired in our studio kiln
• Duration: 6 weeks
• 2.5–3 hours per session
Cariku Art Lab offers a selection of basic sculpting tools for purchase at the studio for students who prefer to buy locally. We also have a limited number of shared tools available for use during class for students who may not yet have their own. Students are encouraged to bring personal tools.
Join us for a deeply creative and rewarding process, an exploration of the human form through clay, memory, and imagination!
Human Head & Torso Sculpture Class
Slab-Built Figurative Sculpture: 6-Week Course
Create a powerful, expressive human sculpture, built entirely from clay slabs!
At Cariku Art Lab, this immersive hand-building course guides students through the sculptural process of creating a hollow human head and torso using patterns, slabs, and slow-build techniques. Unlike solid sculpting, this method allows students to shape form from the inside out, giving the piece both strength and lightness while encouraging bold, expressive design.