Bronze sculptor Chad Fisher has garnered a lot of attention and some memorable commissions for a young artist. Earlier this year, the Philadelphia 76ers unveiled Fisher’s bronze sculpture of Sixers great Allen Iverson. Fisher had previously captured other Sixers greats like Charles Barkley, Maurice Cheeks and Julius “Dr. J” Erving.
This Sunday, the CPTV original series “Where Art Thou?” features an interview with Fisher about his art and career, which brought him to Connecticut after a separation between the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in Old Lyme and the University of New Haven in 2018.
Rather than offering a curriculum suited for traditional bachelor's and master's degrees, the institution returned to teaching the foundational skills of drawing, painting and sculpture in the figurative tradition, which is art derived from real objects in the world, like the human body.
Four years later, Lyme Academy announced a major expansion with the addition of a sculpture program. They chose Chad Fisher to chair the new program. As the Charlotte Colby Danly Sculpture Chair at Lyme Academy, Fisher is uniquely suited for the position — his method of learning the art of sculpture can be traced back to the monumental French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917).
“Dilution of information and lineage matters within the arts,” Fisher said. “So just tracing this lineage back to the Beaux Arts tradition allowed really authentic and sincere information to be shared and learned, because the arts are quantifiable at a foundational level.”
Fisher spent his twenties and thirties learning as much as he could about traditional bronze sculpture. In 2017 he took a huge step very few sculptors take — opening his own foundry where liquid bronze (or other metals) are poured into molds (casting). In this case, molds of Fisher's sculpture.
“In having a foundry you have an enormous amount of control,” Fisher said. “Bronze is a material that we're trying to control that does not want to be controlled. That sounds incredibly frustrating, but you're always learning, you know. The material is like a great teacher.”
Fisher is in the process of moving his foundry from Pennsylvania to the grounds of the Lyme Academy.
Fisher’s foundry has helped him secure some important commissions. Along with sculptures of former Sixers players, Fisher has sculpted Babe Ruth and Chicago Bears running back Walter Payton, among others. In 2020, Fisher completed a life-size likeness of actress Marion Ross (of “Happy Days” fame) for her hometown of Albert Lea, Minnesota.
“She's very funny,” Fisher said of Ross. “I spoke with her over the phone several times before meeting her in person for the unveiling. She's actually in the TV show “Gilmore Girls,” so my three daughters knew who she was immediately.”
Fisher said more than just making a sculpture as realistic as possible, he strives to bring out the soul of the subject. To make that happen, he said he works much like a method actor.
“My naive understanding of method acting is that they're trying to absorb the character, to actually become them,” Fisher explained. “So, I feel in order to make a sculpture of Julius Erving I need to see what motivated Julius? Players listen to music sometimes before games, what did he listen to? I think all of that informs.”
Learn More:
Watch the full segment on “Where Art Thou?” Sunday, June 30, at 7:30 p.m. on Connecticut Public Television, and streaming online.
