Sculpture

MA Sculpture

On entry, students are provided with an appropriate workspace and allocated a Personal Tutor who will regularly monitor the student’s progress. There will be an induction tutorial with each student to clarify their individual sculpture aspirations and to define a work programme. Additionally, the student will be allocated an individual Visiting Tutor who will see the student at least twice each term. This person will be chosen after discussion with the student and with their individual work practice in mind. All students can sign up to see any of the visiting artists who come into the department.

From the beginning of the first year all the students will be encouraged to use the Drawing Studio and its facilities. Drawing is a fundamental activity in the visual arts and all students are expected to have examined its relevance to their individual work.

Critical & Historical Studies
As part of the experience of being at the RCA, all MA students, except those in the School of Humanities, attend a programme of lectures organised by the Department of Critical & Historical Studies during their first year at the College. This work culminates in the submission of a dissertation, which is a requirement for all MA students.

MA Sculpture Foundry Route
Although the majority of the students pursue a two-year Sculpture MA there is also a discrete MA Foundry route that takes specifically interested students to work for part of their time on gaining professional knowledge in foundry skills. This route is intended for sculpture students with an interest in and commitment to aspects of the metal-casting process with a view to extending their own sculpture. The route will allow students to continue to develop their work whilst learning all aspects of lost-wax bronze-casting techniques. To this end a portion of the course will be spent working on client sculptures through all stages of the casting process.

From the start of the course, students will begin to make and develop their own sculpture practice and will have studio space for this in common with all other MA students. By the end of the third term of the first year, students will have gained sufficient knowledge and experience to be able to use the foundry facilities with fluency and confidence. In the second year, students are able to concentrate entirely on their own sculpture while still remaining part of the foundry team, contributing to the group effort as required. Otherwise, students’ academic programme will follow exactly that of other MA Sculpture students.

Professional Practice
The Sculpture Department supports career development by tailoring professional practice provision for students to the culture of the discipline. Information, training and advice on work and life skills is also available centrally through FuelRCA.

Entrance Requirements

• You should have a good first degree in sculpture and display a talent in the making of sculpture and a mastery of its basic techniques.
• You should be knowledgeable about the history of the subject and hold a perspective view of your own work in relationship to that history.
• You should be able to look objectively at sculpture, formally and analytically, to reach a personal assessment of it.

Portfolio

• You should submit a selection of photographs showing a range of work completed within the past three years, clearly marked with dimensions and dates.
• Notebooks and sketchbooks, if relevant, may be included but only in small quantities in a secure portfolio not exceeding A1 size.
• Large drawings must not be sent and will not be looked at.
• Applicants from outside the UK can submit slides or CDs.