The volume is considered the most important element in the design of a sculpture. The sculpture may be all-sided or in relief. All-sided sculpture is an independent and separate object that occupies a space. But the relief is connected to a background or more or less comes out of it.

History of sculpture in Iran:

Archaeological excavations and remains of historical monuments show that the art of sculpting and sculpting in Iran is several thousand years old and this art was performed in a very advanced form in the past. Of course, this art has a significant difference in form, style and content in different regions of Iran in terms of social elements or other variable causes. For example, in the region of Fars and Khuzestan, most of these stone figures were a symbol of a lion, and in some parts of Azerbaijan, a symbol of a ram and a horse were placed in the tombs of the people in question. The reliefs of the stone capitals of holy places and the collection of these examples can be considered the beginning of the art of sculpture in Iran, which is more than several hundred years old.

Regardless of the stone carvings and sculptures in our ancient works and heritage in the Achaemenid and Sassanid dynasties, which definitely benefited from the artists of defeated countries such as ancient Rome, etc. It must be said that the history of sculpture in the country has a long history.
 After the conquest of Iran by Muslims and due to the prohibition of idolatry and idolatry in Islam, this industry and art almost disappeared in Iran, and not many works were created during this period, and only a few reliefs and terracotta can be seen. He pointed out different forms in this period.

In the centuries before the Safavid dynasty, at least from the periods of Afshariya to Zandiya and Qajar, to honor and commemorate heroes, writers, nobles, mystics and scientists, busts of them or, depending on the personality of the deceased, a lion statue as a symbol And the symbol of courage and bravery was sculpted by the artists of this discipline and was attributed to the respective graves.
The art of sculpture in Iran, during its evolutionary process since 70 years ago, according to the available evidence, has to some extent traveled the path of transformation with the art of sculpture of the world, especially the Western nations.

The first person who learned sculpture professionally in the contemporary period and became the founder of this art in the contemporary period was Master Abolhasan Sediqi. After studying in Italy for several years, he returned to Iran and in 1311, by accepting the headship of Mustarfa School of Crafts, he did a great service in the development of the art of painting and sculpture of this border and country, and he started to present many students to the art community of Iran.
With the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the teaching of this field stagnated for a while, and after several years of stagnation, Tehran University of Art Faculty accepted students along with other art fields in 1377, and until now, it has provided good graduates to the society.

The steps of making some sculptures:
1- Implementation of the metal statue:
First, we make some sketches of the desired idea and prepare the most suitable one for implementation. If necessary, we first make a small replica with clay or plaster or sculpting paste and execute it with the appropriate scale of metal. In this method, we cut the metals into desired pieces and put them together and weld them together with a welding machine to complete the design.

2- Implementation of wooden and stone statues:
            In this method, the design and the model are executed first, and we prepare a suitable stone or wood according to the desired model and scale, and transfer the design to the wood or stone with a marker and remove the excess volumes from it to proceed to the next steps. A small thing will arrive. At this stage with small tools? And we start carving according to the place of execution and at the end we use file and sandpaper to smooth the work surface.

3- Implementation of concrete and fiberglass sculptures:
First, we run a small replica of the desired design. The replica can be made with mud, plaster, or performed sculpting dough. After finishing the replica and fixing the defects, they start making the big and original statue. In order to carry out large works, skeletonization is necessary, which is usually done with rebar and netting, and mud or plaster is added on it (depending on the type of work) so that the whole work is done. After the implementation of suitable forms and details, the model is framed.

If the original model is made with plaster, it is better to use fiberglass for molding, and if it is made with clay or sculpting paste, molding with plaster is more suitable. After molding, we separate the mold from the statue, clean its interior and insulate it with oil. We connect the pieces of the mold and pour the desired material into the mold until it hardens. After the material hardens, the mold is removed and the necessary corrections are made. Finally, they apply the desired color.

4- Performing a bronze statue
    To make a bronze statue, first the main model is made with plaster and molded from silicon material. Then they melt the beeswax and pour it into the mold until it gets the right thickness and take out the rest and take a two-layer plaster mold from the wax statue and place it next to the right temperature until the wax from inside the layer. The molds are separated and the molten material is poured into the mold under special conditions. After the material cools down, the mold is broken and the statue is taken out and the necessary finishing is done and finally it is patinated with acid to make it look beautiful.
Sculpture methods and styles are divided into 3 groups:

Carving (masonry): In this method, the sculptor creates his work with a mass of solid material (a
It starts with a piece of stone or wood) and in the process of cutting the said mass, it reaches the desired shape.
Coupling: In this method, the sculptor uses prefabricated parts or woven objects with the help of welding.
It connects by soldering, riveting, nailing, gluing, etc. to realize your desired design. Therefore, this type of sculpture is not necessarily made of a homogeneous material. Sculptures made by molding and pairing methods can be turned into durable and permanent sculptures by molding and casting styles.

(In order to distinguish portrait sculpture and abstract sculpture, the latter case is called volume building.)
Materials used in sculpture:
Mud, plaster, wood, stone, metal (especially bronze), fiberglass, ivory, oyster, paper, paper wax, etc.