When I was asked if I could create a replica of a stolen 17th-century wooden statue of Our Lady, I thought it might be possible if there was enough visual material available. They provided photographic material from four different angles, capturing the statue from all sides. I found it to be a beautiful piece and a significant challenge to recreate it as accurately as possible while also infusing some of my own artistic touch. This was especially important because there are still people who knew the statue well and had a special connection to it.

Because they were not familiar with digital sculpting, they assumed I could simply feed the four photos into the computer and generate a 3D model. However, that’s not how it works yet. Despite being digital, it is still a form of craftsmanship. I start with a digital sphere of clay and sculpt it digitally from there.

I documented the entire process to show how I created the replica.