“I am devoted to creating artwork that glorifies Christ. The reason for this devotion, apart from my Christian beliefs, is that an artist needs an epic subject to create epic art.”
Canadian sculptor, Timothy Paul Schmalz, creates sculptures primarily in bronze.
For more than thirty years, Tim has been “visually translating” sacred scripture and bringing forth spiritual artwork that presents authentic representations.
After dropping out of art college at the age of 19, Schmalz lived in his small studio in Toronto.
“I had no heat in my first old studios, no washrooms, and just a simple board to sleep on. For years I lived like that. It was during this time that I stripped myself of all distractions and material concerns; I did art for art’s sake. And through an amazing journey, I realized that in order to have a great work of art, I needed epic subject matter.”
Tim believes that sculpture is just the skin that covers an idea, a belief, and a truth. As an artist, he is dedicated to making this skin as thin and transparent as possible so the art does not get in the way of what is being expressed.
Over the past decades, Tim has created some powerful representations of Christianity and some landmark complex public bronze sculptures. Cast editions of his life-size bronze sculptures have been installed in major cities in front of some of the most historically significant Christian sites in the world, including Capernaum, the Vatican and Florence.
In recent years, he has worked directly with the Vatican to create more sculptures that highlight spiritual concerns in our modern day.
Tim’s Jesus The Homeless became somewhat ‘viral’ due to Tim’s certainty that bringing Jesus down off the cross and into a relatable human context would allow people to feel a greater closeness with and accessibility to Christ.