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Morrisville Sculptor James L. Gafgen wants you to see the person he memorializes in bronze. Sculpture for Jim is not simply a representation of the external, but rather it is a journey inside the person he sculpts. This journey to the heart of his subject he takes first by studying books, letters, affects of various kinds and other v
isual representations. He looks intently for what he calls the fourth dimension, a necessary prerequisite for the sculpting the other three.
Jim calls this pursuit of personality and character “the entertainment package” or the or “theatre feeder program.” Using this method before sculpting, Jim has learned enough about Harriet Tubman, Robert Morris, Pvt. Michael Dougherty, Samuel Plumeri, Larry Doby and others to begin the multi-stepped process of making large bronze sculptures.
When Morrisville sculptor James L. Gafgen began seventh grade he developed an interest in art but had a problem translating three-dimensional objects into two-dimensional space. “I just couldn’t get it. I could never be happy with making a three-dimensional object flat.” This changed, Jim says, when an insightful art teacher introduced him to clay and he entered the world of three-dimensional sculpture. He has lived in this world ever since.
Jim, who worked as a welder for US Steel Company for 31 years, was always sculpting something—using his knowledge of metals and welding to advance his art. “I was always working on projects. I always had my nose in an anatomy book.” Now he sculpts full time in his Morrisville studio.
Recently Jim has been sculpting locally famous coaches from Neshaminy High School. In September 2010, he finished and unveiled a life-sized bronze stature of Coach John Petrcuskie. Commissioned by the Neshaminy Football Hall of Fame, the monument was installed at the Harry E. Franks Stadium at Neshaminy High School. Jim, a local athlete himself, remembers when as a Morrisville High defensive running back, he played against this coach’s formidable team. Petrcuskie was one of the most respective coaches in Pennsylvania and his record was practically all wins. Jim explains, “That’s why it was so meaningful for me. I’ve seen this guy all the time. He was a gentleman, not a roughneck. He treated people with respect. He knew the game. He knew how to coach.” He has also made bronze busts of four Neshaminy coaches for the Hall of Fame.
Jim has sculpted monuments in Patterson, New Jersey; Holland, Michigan, at the World Cup Soccer game in the United States; New York; and in Springfield Illinois. He theme is always the same: personality, character, something spiritual that is reflected in a life. Jim’s audience is always the same. He recognizes the fact that countless people will see his work, but Jim has one viewer in mind. Jim says, “I sculpt for God’s glory.”