Egyptian sculptures and funerary ornaments are early examples of mixed media sculpture, featuring colors and textures created with metal, stone, precious gems and fused glass or enamel. Polynesian and Mesoamerican artists embedded shells, bone or semiprecious stones in sculptures of wood or stone to represent eyes and teeth. The first use of mixed media in the modern sense of the word was in the Paris studio of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. Both created dimensional paintings and sculptures from found objects and nontraditional materials combined.
French artist Marcel Duchamp and the Surrealist movement of the 20th century deliberately presented common materials as works of sculpture to challenge viewers to question the nature of art materials and sculpture. Mixed media sculpture achieved prominence in fine art galleries in the 1970s led by artists such as Judy Chicago. Her best-known large mixed media sculpture is "The Dinner Party," combining ceramics, porcelain and textiles to produce 39 table settings honoring different women in history.
In 1913, Duchamp mounted a bicycle wheel on a white stool, combining found objects. Current mixed media sculptures begin with found objects and add a dizzying array of materials to create surprising forms and images. Decorative sculpture combines precious metal, glass and modern materials such as epoxy and fiberglass. Artists also combine natural elements such as plants and grass with permanent sculptural materials.
Folk art traditionally used many media to create desired images and forms. Folk artists use carved wood, clay and stone in inventive combinations. Items usually considered to be garbage are repurposed for folk art sculptures, including bottle caps and candy wrappers. Sculptures created from construction materials and debris reached their height with the Watts Towers in Southern California, which were built by construction worker Simon Rodia over a 34-year period. Rodia used structural steel and mortar, decorating the towers with seashells, pottery fragments and glass.