Biological Clock

My motto for this project is: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." Seriously this is the most challenging bronze piece I have ever attempted, and unfortunately, I was unable to complete it by the end of the semester. However, I plan to complete this piece this fall.

I began the project with a large cylinder of clay, approx. 18" tall and 12" in diameter.

 
 
I carved the entire piece from this solid mass, creating a womb-like form that is suspended by pillars. The form has an hourglass shape and inside there is the form of a small infant figure that presses against the walls of the womb. As the figure hangs suspended in the air, it appears to transform into sand-conveying the feeling that time is running out for the baby. This is a very personal piece for me that conveys my inner conflict with change in my life, in that there are still so many things that I want to accomplish in life, however, if I want to have children, time is running out and I must act in a timely manner.                

 In order to cast this piece in bronze, it first had to be dissected into 4 different pieces. This was VERY SCARY for me, as I had just spent an extreme amount of time carving this piece.

A blanket mold was made for each piece by rolling out a 1/2" slab of clay and wrapping each of the pieces in plastic wrap before covering them with a layer of clay.

 Then, each piece is covered with a layer of plaster to create a plaster mold. This was not fun for me, as I absolutely HATE working with plaster. This process takes several hours, and as I was on a tight deadline, I pulled an all-nighter making the plaster molds.





To add to the situation, all of my plaster molds crumbled to pieces the following day. After some tears and an encouraging pep talk from a classmate, I proceeded to remake my plaster molds.

Another injury. I'm not sure how I even did this one...

 After the molds were completed and dry, the pieces were taken out of the molds and the blankets of clay over the original clay pieces I carved were discarded.

Next, the molds are placed back together tightly and liquid rubber is poured into each of the molds.

After the rubber is set, the molds are taken apart again and the master pieces (the original pieces I carved) are discarded.

 Now, we are left with rubber molds with which we can pour our wax into.

 

 

 

Casting wax is poured into each of the molds in a series of thin coats until a 1/4" thick coat of wax is inside each of the molds.

 

 Next, a sprue system is planned to sprue each of the pieces to be cast. To the left is classmate Anna helping me determine how to sprue these pieces.

This is a funny picture of me...

 Next, each of the pieces are checked to make sure that there aren't any thin spots that are less than 1/4" thick. More wax is brushed or dripped on if needed.

 After the wax pieces are sprued, they are covered in a series of coats of slurry and silica, creating a ceramic shell.












Next comes the bronze pour!!!

 It was not a successful pour. The first two pieces poured turned out good, but the third shell broke during the pour and took the rest of the bronze with it.

I busted the pieces out of the shells and salvaged as much bronze as I could for the next attempt.

 I really feel that this piece will be well worth the effort once completed. I hope to conclude this project next semester.

Oklahoma State University Annual Juried Student Artist Exhibition

This semester, I was privileged to have had two pieces selected to be exhibited in the Oklahoma State University Annual Juried Student Artist Exhibition.




Epiphany
steel

Change Series: Aetas Novo, Metamorphosis, Adventum
bronze, stone abrasive, wood, hardware

       

 

I won Best of Show in Studio for my Change Series!!!

 

 

I also was awarded the Carson Scott Scholarship, which is a award given out to a student with a 3D emphasis, as well as the Jay J. McVicker Scholarship. These scholarships will help me out greatly as I continue my education this fall!!!

Experimenting with Clay

Over the course of the semester, I began to work with combining my ceramics pieces with my sculpture focused body of work. Below are some pictures of my studies. Some were successful, while others exploded in the kiln.

 

 

 

Momentum OKC 2013 Juried Artist Exhibition

This spring, I was honored to have been selected to participate in the annual Momentum OKC Juried Artist Exhibition, hosted by the Oklahoma Visual Artists Coalition (OVAC).

My piece Epiphany was chosen for the event, which was held at 50 Penn Place in Oklahoma City. The event began with a 2 night grand opening, followed by a week-long exhibition of all work. It was a lot of fun!

Color Wars

My second project this semester was considered to be an experimental project, as I was interested in working with plexiglass. I quickly found that working with plexiglass can be very challenging. Although not as fragile as glass, plexiglass can crack very easily and has to be drilled VERY CAREFULLY. Considering that my project involved the drilling of over 50 holes, I can now consider myself to be a plexiglass drilling EXPERT.

 Above shows the several different sizes of drill bits that you have to progress through in order to reach a large hole without cracking the plexiglass.

 Colored transparent folders were purchased and slid beneath the various sheets of plexiglass to achieve the desired look.








1/4" steel rods were bent with a propane torch and grinded down to achieve a shiny finish.

With any project there is the possibility of an injury....
                 this is my finger after being smashed with the vice.


                            I will never make that same mistake twice.

                                                                     
                                                                     Color Wars
 This piece is reminiscent of my previous career and personality conflicts with a former coworker.

Oklahoma State Artists Society Kansas City Art Show Trip

At the beginning of February, the Oklahoma State Artists Society held an art show for all of their members in Kansas City, MO, at an amazing new age store near downtown called Aquarius Books. We had a blast that weekend!! Here are some pictures from the event:

The event gave us the opportunity to gain experience with installing and taking down our work quickly, as well as talking with various people about our work.










While in Kansas City, we had the opportunity to experience a little taste of the city. We ate dinner at an AMAZING Ethiopian restaurant, went clubbing, did a little thrift store shopping, and best of all, visited the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. I had the opportunity to see works by Kandinsky, Duchamp, Monet, Walter de Maria, and best of all, one of my favorite artists of all time, Rodin. There was actually a Rodin exhibition going on at the time. His work is BEAUTIFUL.

Breaking Ground



       

 

 

This was the first piece that I had begun work on this semester. It began with intentions to become an outdoor sculpture. However, it has resulted in a fairly large indoor piece in progress. The piece is called Breaking Ground and is based upon progress and moving forward with a new transition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  



 An acetylene-oxygen torch was used to bend and twist 3/8" steel rods. I knew I wanted the piece to make a very large impact and have somewhat of an "electric" feel to it. I began the piece by not restricting myself to any sort of particular shape or form to aim for. I just started bending rods in ways that I enjoyed or felt were interesting.


 As the piece progressed and increased in size, I realized that I needed to form some sort of a plan as to what type of shape this piece was going to take. I drew a couple of quick sketches until I felt happy with a particular form.

 Since my original intentions were for the piece to be an outdoor installation, I had a 3' 6" long steel tube that was buried outside for the base of the sculpture to rest in. However...I installed the piece the night before a snow storm hit campus. The 60mph winds from the storm literally bent my entire piece to one direction.


This brought me to thinking...

I decided to attempt to modify the piece to become an indoor sculpture instead.

After cutting off the 42" base of the sculpture and bringing it inside, the scale of the sculpture was very enjoyable for me. It stands at over 8' tall and protrudes over 4' into the space.  I am extremely satisfied with the visual impact that the size of sculpture has and enjoy the negative space that surrounds the piece.

I still need to form a type of base for my Breaking Ground piece, and am looking forward to exploring possible options.