Project 4: Remix

Process

For this remix project, I chose to remix Project 3. I wanted to make roses out of wax and do an investment mold because I felt like using the wax gave me more direct feedback and control over my pattern, as well as more detail. I tried to push it farther this time by making the pieces extremely thin. Like I did for the Mechanic/Organic project, I started with simple wax shapes. In this case it was circles. I made a small ball of wax and then began layering the circles on top of it. To get the circles to be more malleable, I had a cup of hot water nearby to dip them in. When necessary, I also dipped the whole piece in the melted wax to coat it and hold it together. In this way I built up the roses. I also made a number of “rose buds” by using fewer circles on some pieces and making them look more closed off. The investment mold did not turn out exactly as I had hoped, as none of the buds really survived. I was pleased with the roses though. I ended up with a good amount of detail and a lot of the thin petals survived. Scraping out the investment was a very difficult process as it became trapped it the inner petals. A pick and the sand blaster got a lot of it off, but there was also still a good amount on there. I also decided to make thorns out of metal. They were simply thin triangles. I put them in their own investment and they came out nicely. I ended up using some of the sprues from the roses’ investment as branches for my rose bush.

Result

For the bush itself I used ¼” armature wire that was still relatively malleable, but strong enough to hold up the bronze. Something that I hadn’t liked in some of my previous pieces was how grounded and static they were. I wanted some motion. I felt like my Project 3 had some motion with the way your eye traveled across the piece, but I wanted to push it farther. I think the armature wire allowed me to do that. I was able to balance the piece in a very unique way. All the roses had to be attached for it to balance the right way, which I liked the idea of. If the weight of any rose was missing, it wanted to tip. Spray paint and some paper leaves finished up the piece.  As with my previous pieces, this one had some personal meaning for me as well. As I have mentioned, my mother and I like to garden flowers together in the summer, but we actually have this rose bush that started as just a small cutting and has since grown and flourished and I think it’s awesome how resilient they are. With this in mind I decided to play on the Rose-Bud-Thorn exercise my RA used to have us do. I saw each branch as one of my past five years of college and I played with the ratio of rose to thorns for each one. The armature wire also allowed me to leave the end in the air, as if is continuing on. If I had to do something differently, it would be the sprue system on my wax investment. I think I accidently gave the metal a way to bypass the area I wanted it to fill in the buds. Overall, I was very pleased with this remix project. By using techniques similar to Project 3, I was able to  create something with meaning to myself and also further the idea about smaller parts making up a whole that I have been interested in in a number of my pieces. I was also able to push certain aspects that I haven't before, such as the balance of the piece.

Focus on Life's Roses, bronze/aluminum wire/paper, 11 " x 12 " x 13"