SMALL-SCALE HUMAN FIGURES AS A STRATEGY OF REPRESENTATION IN CONTEMPORARY SCULPTURE

In the research, the situation of handling small scale as a representation preference and context element in figure practices in contemporary sculpture art is addressed by analyzing what scale reduction / scale manipulation means in line with the changing perception of scale within the scope of contemporary art. The research questions the effects of the preference for small scale in figurative sculpture on the themes of the works addressed by the artists in the light of the works of artists such as Isaac Cordal, Ron Mueck, Tomoaki Suzuki and Stephan Balkenhol, who are prominent in contemporary sculpture art. Literature was reviewed in order to create the theoretical content for the analysis of the concepts and works subject to the research. Sources supporting the researchers' thoughts on the subject were selected from the data obtained. The data obtained from the sources were not left as mere quotations, determinations were made about the subject depending on the research, the quotations were interpreted/analyzed by questioning. In this sense, with the help of the analysis of the artworks of the artists evaluated, it can be said that for the overall research findings, the reduced scale in figure practices is a quality that is frequently changed in order to discover and convey new existential and social contexts to the audience, and that it plays an important role as one of the main starting points to convey the visual and conceptual aspects of the body/human form within existential frameworks. Furthermore, the findings of the research suggest that the small scale has the potential to detach the viewer from the existing physical perception of time and space, to influence the viewer in terms of personal life patterns and psychology, thus encouraging introspective contemplation and consequently redefining the boundaries of sculptural storytelling.