Creating on Campus

The bronze man greets the students and faculty each morning. He remains stoic as tardy students dash to class. This sculpture called “Creating” was created by Johnson+Johnson heir Seward Johnson.

Johnson spends two years of intensive labor on each sculpture. The artist uses a 12-inch clay model and a live model as he sculpts the life-size version. The large clay figure is transferred to plaster, wax and then ceramic before it is covered in liquid bronze that reaches 2000 degrees F. The model must dry before it is carved in sections. Johnson uses small drills, air pumps and fabric impressions to give his work a lifelike quality.

His scultpures, which are displyed outside and show people in everyday activities, often trick people into believing they are real. On the Grounds for Sculpture website, dedicated to Seward's public sculpture garden in Hamilton, NJ., he said, "I use my art to convince you of something that isn't real. You laugh because you were taken in but you become intimate with it." http://www.groundsforsculpture.org/gfshist.htm

Undergrad Kayce Lustrino said she asked "Creating" for directions the first time she saw it on Hofstra's campus. She said, "It was really embarrassing but I'm sure I was not the first and will not be the last. He is just so realistic!"

Seward's work has been shown from Hofstra’s campus to Paris and Istanbul. Johnson who has appeared on "The Tonight Show" and CNN has also been featured in The New York Times and the Boston Globe.

Johnson, 68, who lives in Princeton, N.J., has been married for over 20 years and has two children. He also founded the Johnson Atelier Foundry and Technical Institute, a non-profit art education facility, to foster young sculptors' talents.

Seward likes o spent time loitering near his artwork to try and elicit negative responses from bystanders. Hofstra students be warned, if a man asks if you like the statue be careful how you reply. Hofstra sophomore Jason Denis said he was not worried about being questioned. Denis has no negative comments. He said, "This guy is the man!" http://www.sewardjohnson.com/site/index.html