Inspiration meets perspiration

Published 5:00 pm Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Shawn Agosta’s intense ‘La Bella’ should inspire a

few good workouts.

The Gym at the Pavilion inspires people to get strong and stay healthy.

Its new mascot, “La Bella,” reinforces the message.

The large gray sculpture looms behind the gym’s front desk and is visible from the foyer below, strong and powerful in its stretching stance. She is the work of Shawn Agosta, Bainbridge artist and gym member.

“I was trying to make a piece for the gym, something to show it off a little bit,” said Agosta, an eight-year island resident. He shared his idea with gym co-owner Dinah Brein and got the okay.

“It’s a chance to get some art into the space,” he said. “(The sculpture) has a lot of authority and is dramatic. I wanted to make it come to life.”

Mission accomplished. The 60-pound sculpture, including base, is a lifelike rendition of a focused, athletic woman, created in the artist’s mind. From her braided hair to the tendons in her feet, she is realism personified in paper.

As Agosta says, you have to touch La Bella to believe it’s made of newspaper, assembled through a papier-mâché-like process. For support, an aluminum rod stretches from the figure’s chest to its outstretched arm.

“I made it to last a long time,” Agosta said.

A series of seven cuts allowed the artist to adjust areas that were too bulky. Then he applied a special paper clay, which he developed.

“Nobody does what I do,” Agosta said. “The clay is sticky and hard to work with. I (applied) it to the armature of the piece and put in the tendons and muscles and more definition.

“This takes a long time to dry.”

After the body was complete, Agosta put on the face and then added the eyes, which he believes “bring the whole piece to life.”

Sanding came next – everything but the braided hair – followed by 20 coats of paint in four shades of gray. Sponging and airbrushing brought out La Bella’s details and highlighted areas. The base she stands upon is constructed of framed wood with weights.

“You have to know how to sculpt and know how to paint to pull out the contrast,” Agosta said. “The paint is a really hard medium.”

He completed the project in three weeks, one week of which was drying time. In between, he worked on other projects in his Bainbridge studio, which presently holds 27 works.

Agosta creates what he describes as “big huge wall pieces,” including life-size dancers and horses that he installs across a client’s wall.

Agosta had a gallery called the Soul and the Iris in Seattle’s Pioneer Square, but it proved too distracting. His Bainbridge studio doubles as his gallery.

“I like to show my work in unconventional ways and in a natural setting, like someone’s house,” he said.

The Gym fits that criteria and gives Agosta “great advertising.” It also puts art in a public area.

Once he got La Bella in place, he sat in a chair and listened anonymously to reactions, which have pleased him. Gym manager Stephanie Rabedeaux wants to keep La Bella on display forever. Although a few clients think the sculpture should be smiling, most people like it, she said.

“The pose and how she is (are) natural,” Agosta said. “A smile wouldn’t be natural.”

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Go figure

For more about Shawn Agosta’s sculptures, contact him at 842-2055 or see www.agostasculpturestudios.com.