Category
Juried Art - 3-D
Description
Research Problem Statement The research problem of my project was to create a sculpture that could communicate to the viewer the feeling of falling apart. This came with other problems like finding the right material and position that can make someone feel an emotion, give the illusion of melting away, as well as staying sturdy. Communication Objective Everybody goes through a period in their life where they feel like everything is falling apart, and they feel like life is slowly eating them alive. We often don’t even recognise when people around us are going through a hard time, because people are usually not in a socially acceptable environment to show they are struggling, or because they feel guilt that they are not handling life as well as their peers. My communication objective was to make a sculpture that communicated to others this feeling, and to show that they are not the only ones who go through periods in their life like this. Visual Solution I had to try a few different materials to settle on my solution. One of the first materials I tried was resin, but it was very hard to work with without a mold and it did not create the visible drips that I was aiming for. Because resin wouldn't work without a mold I was very discouraged, because I wanted my sculpture to look handmade and organic, not off of an assembly line or transparent. Finally I got the idea to try carving a candle, which turned out to be my final visual solution. It took a few tries to get the hang of carving with such brittle material, but the outcome was brilliant. Candle wax was exactly what I needed to get my message across. How it was Produced I started off with a fully round candle, then I drew out my idea for my sculpture onto the wax. I carved down to the general shape using my wood carving knives, which took careful attention not to use too much force. After getting to the general shape I was able to get a better idea of what I could cut out, and what needed to stay. Once I had everything exactly how I wanted it, I started to light the candle at the top. Unfortunately this didn’t give me the effect I wanted because it didn’t add enough of a melting effect. I also noticed that the drips were hard to see because they were white. I mixed some candle wax with some burnt wax, and dropped it down to make it look like it was coming from his face. I also used a lighter to add heat directly to the whole body of wax so it added a huge melting effect.
Wax In A Bottle
Juried Art - 3-D
Research Problem Statement The research problem of my project was to create a sculpture that could communicate to the viewer the feeling of falling apart. This came with other problems like finding the right material and position that can make someone feel an emotion, give the illusion of melting away, as well as staying sturdy. Communication Objective Everybody goes through a period in their life where they feel like everything is falling apart, and they feel like life is slowly eating them alive. We often don’t even recognise when people around us are going through a hard time, because people are usually not in a socially acceptable environment to show they are struggling, or because they feel guilt that they are not handling life as well as their peers. My communication objective was to make a sculpture that communicated to others this feeling, and to show that they are not the only ones who go through periods in their life like this. Visual Solution I had to try a few different materials to settle on my solution. One of the first materials I tried was resin, but it was very hard to work with without a mold and it did not create the visible drips that I was aiming for. Because resin wouldn't work without a mold I was very discouraged, because I wanted my sculpture to look handmade and organic, not off of an assembly line or transparent. Finally I got the idea to try carving a candle, which turned out to be my final visual solution. It took a few tries to get the hang of carving with such brittle material, but the outcome was brilliant. Candle wax was exactly what I needed to get my message across. How it was Produced I started off with a fully round candle, then I drew out my idea for my sculpture onto the wax. I carved down to the general shape using my wood carving knives, which took careful attention not to use too much force. After getting to the general shape I was able to get a better idea of what I could cut out, and what needed to stay. Once I had everything exactly how I wanted it, I started to light the candle at the top. Unfortunately this didn’t give me the effect I wanted because it didn’t add enough of a melting effect. I also noticed that the drips were hard to see because they were white. I mixed some candle wax with some burnt wax, and dropped it down to make it look like it was coming from his face. I also used a lighter to add heat directly to the whole body of wax so it added a huge melting effect.
Comments
Undergraduate - 2nd Place Award Winner