Avoiding key work by sculptor? (9)
I believe the answer is:
eschewing
'avoiding' is the definition.
(eschewing is a kind of avoiding)
'key work by sculptor?' is the wordplay.
'key' becomes 'esc' ('Escape' key on a computer keyboard).
'work by sculptor?' becomes 'hewing' (a sculptor hews or carves).
'esc'+'hewing'='ESCHEWING'
(Other definitions for eschewing that I've seen before include "Shunning" , "Missing" .)