Moving Up to Higher Ground

With the mold making complete, it's finally time to move on to wax casting! With the mold empty of clay and fully assembled, hot wax gets poured in.

The big wax melting pot.

The first cast of the left arm. The holes are indications of where the mold is so thin, the wax cools before it fills the entire thing. She's also missing some fingers for the same reason.

 Kind of pretty in a macabre kind of way. 

 The other arm came out a little more solid.

Breaking Over Me

Today is a day most epic as Florence's body is released from the mold. Finish work on the case includes drilling holes through the outer rim for bolts to secure when it's reassembled. I wasn't that good at drilling straight holes...

Chisel in place, but it's pretty thin on the edges, so I needed to be extra careful.

 A little more difficult than I thought...

This rubber mold opens like a book instead of having two separate pieces.

Finally she's free, although her legs had to be ripped off to get the clay out.

With No Colours On Our Skin

With the left arm mold complete, and the right arm mold removed, time to finish the mold on the body. I'm practicing a three piece case for the rubber mold and finishing up the third section.

 The sleeve molds look so pretty in the light... under the taps.

The curving rhythms of the molds almost looks like a landscape.

A close-up shot for a dear friend of mine that loves close-ups. ;)

 Typically how my work station looks... creativity is messy.

It's been so long since I've seen the actual sculpture I'm beginning to forget what she looks like. 

 She looks pretty elegant in white.

Sweet Nothing

Ah, sorry for not updating, at some point I kept uploading my photos to my computer, but not to the blog. Let me catch up and post the rest of the photos I have.

Once the case was made for her removed left arm, it was time to open it up and get the original oil clay sculpture out of the inner rubber mold. Somehow up until the point, I didn't realize that in the process to create the mold, the original sculpture is lost. Even though a lot of work goes into making the mold, by the end, it feels like I have nothing. It's literally the negative space that the sculpture leaves. It's so surreal to have to break something in order to make it.

Opening the case, I cut my finger on one of the edges. It's official, I've given blood and sweat to this sculpture. I'm pretty sure I'll give tears when it's complete.

Getting the rubber mold out of the case...

Oh! She's inside!

The clay remains of her left arm. This photo breaks my heart every time.

 The cleaned out rubber mold resting in the fiberglass case and another 6 hour work session complete.

Addicted to Love

The sculpture is fully encased in rubber, and now must be encased in plaster and fiberglass. I've already finished the detached arm with the help of my sculpture teacher. I had to do the vertical case pictured below on my own because the deadline for the Academy of Art University Spring Show submission  is drawing close and I couldn't wait for my teacher's schedule to match with mine that week.

I didn't do the best job. Working vertically turned out to be far more difficult. I also didn't mix enough plaster, and overall, the case was a tad thin. But it's holding well enough to continue. My teacher says this is the worst part of the process for him, but I love it. I love the machines, I love mixing the materials, I love layering the fiberglass and plaster. I love the timing involved, once the clock starts ticking, all your attention has to be devoted to the piece. I think the ability to totally focus is something sorely lacking in today's society.

I still have friends telling me they thought this sculpture is a large one. But nope, not even as tall as a yard stick. Despite her small size, she's getting heavy to move. About 120 hours work total at this point.