Paul DiPasquale

Before attaining a sculpture degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1977, you graduated from the University of Virginia with a major in sociology and a minor in art. How did art, and sculpting in particular, become your life's work?

I guess because I've always believed in the connection between arts and sciences; in the artistic processes and scientific processes being the same. I in fact started in pre-med to be a veterinarian, and that morphed into sociology because of the rigors of organic chemistry…I did work study in architecture in a non-degree, but from that decided that I could get a degree in sculpture and make a profession out of it – which is debatable. Depends on how much money you make.

There was much controversy surrounding the unveiling of your Arthur Ashe statue on Monument Avenue in 1996. Looking back on the event more than 10 years later, is there anything you wish had been done differently?

I think the perspective that you need is public art is going to be controversial – especially if it's about a subject that's worthy for the culture at hand. Looking back, I think it's a testimonial to the democratic system that you have heroes over a period of time, and you don't get rid of old heroes and supplant them with new heroes. So I think that democratically, it's a good thing. I think what happened in the Arthur Ashe process is that the question changed. The first question was "Should Arthur Ashe be on Monument Avenue?" Frankly, I thought the answer to that was no, initially...
The question changed to "Why should Arthur Ashe not be on Monument Avenue?" When you look at it like that, you realize that this is a modern hero, born and raised a product of Virginian education. He's a genuine Virginian and a hero loved worldwide, so why shouldn't he be on Monument Avenue? When you frame it that way, you realize that Monument Avenue deserves to have some more monuments on it.

What was the inspiration for the Ashe statue's intriguing pose?

It was actually described to me by [Ashe], which a lot of people don't know. In as much as he said, he wanted to share the pedestal with children and wanted to be in his warm-up suit. He wanted to have books involved in some way. And a parting caveat was he supposed a [tennis] racket should be in there somewhere. As a very modest man, my goal was to create an active space in the middle of the pedestal, so that's what it's doing. To my delight, when the lighting designer lit it he put a campfire light in the middle – so at night it actually lights up the inside of the figures…it was the discussion with Ashe and trying to meet his shopping list that I came up with that design.

Your statue of King Neptune in Virginia Beach ended up being twice the size you originally had planned for. What happened?

The height didn't change that much. What I originally proposed would have been 30 feet, and it ended up being 34. But it did get a lot broader. It was almost a third more of the volume, so instead of being eight tons, it was 12 tons of bronze. Instead of being a five-foot-wide pedestal, it was an eight and a half-foot-wide pedestal, which means that much more concrete and steel. So all the way down the line it got bigger. The reason that happened is we pretty much had to [create] it in China, to meet the budget and the timeline restrictions. The Chinese were so excited about the piece that they essentially wanted to show-off, and show up with this bigger and better interpretation. Which I was happy with, but it put real pressure and difficulties in the budgetary process.

Speaking of mythical beings, if you could have one superpower, what would it be?

It would be the power of organization. Which is what I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to achieve (laughs).

Many sculptors and artists worldwide have looked at your work in awe. Is there any particular artist or art work that you've seen in your life that's left you speechless?

I'm always humbled by the process and the product of [married artists] Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who are known for wrapping – although they don't really wrap things as much as [create] fabric-oriented environmental sculpture.[Christo] did the orange Gates in [New York's] Central Park most recently, that people are aware of. He hung a valley curtain over a river in Colorado in 1972 when I was a junior at UVA taking sculpture classes [Editor's note: the massive curtain was more than 400-meters long]. I got interested in that and read as much as I could about him, saw a couple videos. He does what I consider to be public art that changes people's minds about how they look at things. He gives them previously untried thinking matter.

You have a copyrighted line of duck and fish sculptures for ceilings and walls, which have gotten press in Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal. Tell me a little about those…

A gallery owner suggested that I do an installation of ceiling sculpture. I was using the ceiling as a water surface, and I had some people coming into the deep end – just legs, coming down a ladder, for instance…and I had some ducks that were swimming across, all on the ceiling. It hit the market well in that you didn't have to dust them and you couldn't knock them over either. I sold out of the ducks on opening night to dentists – dentists were the sole buyer. So I realized that was a good idea, to market to dentists. So I started renting castings of those ducks to dentists, and then started selling them.
When I moved to Richmond in '85, I was pretty much was just doing ducks for money while I did sculpture for me. By doing the ducks and selling them, I could afford to keep a studio going. Then I licensed them and sold them through Orvis catalog, which is a hunting catalog, for 13 years. They normally only keep products for three years. In those 13 years we produced about 20,000 ducks – not painted by me, but they're my design and copyright. Those ducks, which were bought for $50 a piece, now sell for about $100 on eBay. If someone happens to have one of the 1,500 or 2,000 ducks that I personally cast and painted, on eBay they are now going for $400 roughly. So it's pretty wild.

What's the greatest talent that a sculptor (or any artist, for that matter) can possess when creating a work of art?

I think that great art is a transformation of concept. Whether it's a book, play, painting, sculpture…it changes what you're thinking about. In art, I think the transformation of material is the other requirement. You have to do that well…I think it's a combination of concept and material, in terms of growth and thinking into it, or invention.

You also have taught college courses as an adjunct at a variety of Virginia, Maryland and D.C. schools since 1978. Why has teaching been something that's so important to you?

First off, it's the first job that most artists go to. English majors [also] for example, or art majors. Teaching is gratifying – when you do a good job teaching you're also learning. I do lectures and talks for schools at all grade levels. I'm happy to do it for [everyone].

I understand you have a fascination with carving human ears out of various materials. How did that start?

I started just as a doodle. Ears are something that most painters and sculptors avoid, and that I am good at. I started playing around and realized that if I carved somebody's ear, they liked the idea of owning it. So I began giving away ears as gifts, and they became more telling as to who [the people] were and how I interpreted them. As well as what I carved them out of. I ultimately ended up carving them out of brick, because there's any number of metaphors that go along with that. Blocks, for the same reason. Legally, it's one of the most exciting parts of the body that's commonly shown. Eyes, nose and mouth are way overdone; nobody pays any attention to ears…Lastly, being heard is one of the greatest human needs. I like that.

You're being called out – which one of your public works are you most proud of?

It sounds hackney, but they really are like children in that they all have their own strengths. But I suppose I am most indebted to the Arthur Ashe piece, for that transformation I was talking about. From a sculptural point of view, I'm most proud of Neptune, because it pushes all the envelopes. It's taking advantage of technology, ancient and modern technology, in order to get that thing to stand up and be a 34-foot bronze. So there, I picked two (laughs).

This may be a tired question for you, but – given the varying subjects of your art over the years, where do you find your ideas and inspiration?

Public art, I think, is obligated to attract attention, and is also obligated to provide a story or a mark that's worthy of paying attention to. I look for people who are not acknowledged. The Indian at The Diamond was actually done in Washington DC, to honor Native Americans in the capital of America – because there are actually no statues of Indians in our capital. I did it thinking it could go anywhere in our country, and if I could actually do this and put it on top of a building in DC, I would get national attention and I'd sell it. Which is how it got to Richmond, and coincidentally how I got to Richmond. Inspiration really comes from looking for a market need.

How many of your own pieces reside in your home now?

In terms of big sculptures that I need two people to move [them], two. Fiberglass figures. Total, probably about 50 or 75 finished sculptures. That's the trouble with making things for a living; you have to get rid of them. It would be nice to sell them, but the further along I get doing sculpture, I'm not sure that it doesn't make more sense to just give them to friends.

Is there anything you're currently working on that is destined for public display soon?

I have a thing I'm working that I'm going to get up somewhere, but I don't know if it will happen in Richmond. What I want to do is make a sculpture out of destroyed handguns. Legal handguns that have been confiscated by the police. I have a number of things in mind. It used to be easier to get those gun parts…I'm working on that right now with the Richmond Police. The proposal I want to do would be making a place where victims of handgun violence would go, but that place would be constructed out of welded together handgun parts.

What's your favorite thing to do when you aren't hard at work?

I like swimming, kayaking, rowing with the Richmond Boat Club. And dogs, I spend a lot of time walking my dogs or taking them places.

What is your favorite spot in Richmond?

The bridge to Belle Isle.

Favorite movie?

I'm going to go with the animation in "Ratatouille." Great interpretation of humans and rats. I started out not liking it. I like having my mind changed. I practically wanted to clap at the end of it.

Sculptors have a wide array of materials to choose from, ranging from clay, bronze, stone and more. Which is your favorite?

One of my favorite things to do is clay. Modeling [clay] – I don't do much fired clay. I do clay that I end up casting or doing other things with. On top of that is brick, all the ears done in brick are done by hand, and that allows me to spend more time with the person who I'm working on.

What would Paul DiPasquale most like to be known for?

We haven't really talked about the Indian at the Diamond, but I think that one is a deserving sculpture for who it speaks for and how it does it.

Fill in the blank: Richmond is _______?

In need of planting trees – not cutting them down.