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.

Change Series "Aetas Novo", "Metamorphosis" and "Adventum"

These are images of my change series, titled “Aetas Novo, Metamorphosis” and “Adventum.” I like to use the Latin language when titling my work because Latin is now considered a dead language. Therefore, the meaning of any words written in Latin will not change over time. This is why scientific terminology is written in Latin. I want viewers to encounter this series as if they are discovering these forms that have been recently unearthed. Change, of course, is intangible. My goal with this series is for viewers to be able to see change as tangible forms that can be inspected. Perhaps this new accessibility to something so many people are afraid of will allow some to feel more comfortable when undergoing new change and provide a form of transition for them with their own personal changes in their lives.

"Adventum"

 This last piece of my series is meant to depict the final step in the process of change. "Adventum" is Latin for "the arrival" and I feel that is the perfect description for the conclusion of any change one may undergo in life. I see the conclusion of a change as being this collapse of an old way or system and the branching out or blossoming of a new  form. This form is depicted in my third and last piece of the series.

 This piece was the most complex bronze casting that I have done and created many challenges for me. First of all, I attempted to create a solid wax form from my mold, but due to technological difficulties, this proved not possible. Therefore, the mold had to be cut in half. This would create two separate wax  pieces that would be cast and welded together near the end of the process. To further complex the project, I had created a third portion of the sculpture by melting and dripping wax. So actually, the sculpture was cast in three separate components.

These drawings show how my instructor taught me how to create a solution for how to sprue these pieces. Each piece had to be sprued separately.

 These images show how the pieces look after just one coat of slurry. It takes approx 11 coats of slurry/salt mix for the pieces to be thoroughly coated.

 This image shows the pieces after approx 5 coats of slurry and salt.

 Just to add to the challenges of this project, one of my pieces broke the morning of the pour, just before putting it in the oven. My instructor showed me how to plug the hole in the shell with cement right before the bronze is poured. The piece that was broken off had to be discarded.

Sculpture instructor Matt Boonstra, classmate Anna Rutherford, and I about to do the bronze pour.

 Instructor Matt Boonstra showing us how to plug a hole in the shell with cement.

 The bronze pieces still in the shell after the pour.

 Busting the pieces out of the shell.

 The sprue systems are cut off of the pieces using a sawzall. And the sprues are grinded down and smoothed off of the pieces.

Two of the pieces are welded together and then polished using the needlescale.

 Then, the third portion of the piece was welded onto the sculpture.

All three pieces of the series were sandblasted and treated with denatured alcohol. Then, they were heated up with an acetylene-oxygen torch and treated with acid to create the desired patina. Last, all pieces were sealed by heating with a propane torch and buffing with wax polish.