Independent Research
Junior/senior level experience in sculpture.
Intermediate: Individual Research: Request for Proposal (RFP)
Exquisite Corpse: Artifacts
Exquisite corpse or Cadavre exquis is traditionally a drawing technique where a bank of words or images are collected, and assembled to create a finished composition. This project explores this surrealist idea in an assemblage of components to create an “Exquisite corpse” sculptural artifact.
Mission: (Project Description)
In this project, the student is asked to create five artifacts from the inventory of objects created from previous mold-making assignments. Students are allowed to melt, cut, deconstruct, and transform existing objects and reassemble them into unique sculptural forms/figures. The final form may be prepared as if to be cast in metal using the gating method for the traditional investment lost wax method. Other materials may be added. Attention should be given to how additional materials are fastened to the wax objects. Note whether objects will remain as original material or be cast pin metal.
Project Gallery
Sculpting the Human Head/Body
Prologue:
The bust has been used for centuries to honor, memorialize, characterize, and distinguish identities of culture. As a social political tool, as many forms of art have been and will be, the face and bust have been used to provide an instrument of social control and propaganda. For ourselves and prosperity art through human form has been a link to the identities of personalities of the past. History, mythology, and other stories are hinted at, and revealed by these simple yet complex forms. We have a compulsive draw towards the replication of identity through various mediums, to empower a material to conjure a sense of preservation.
Project Gallery
Wood Carving: Merging Early and Contemporary Icons
Mission:
In this project create a wood carved mask that visually merges early and contemporary icons. The mask should take on a combination of both icons chosen. The main material will be wood, other materials can be used to embellish the form. Try to use materials that are a part of our current culture. Accumulated objects or components of devices we use might be good resources. A visit to the salvage yards will be a good resource as well.
Body Art: Plaster Casting and Mixed Media
Prologue:
The human body and its components allow us to understand facets of identity such as gender, sexuality, race, and ethnicity. Slight gestures can represent emotion, mood, and intent. Subtle and extreme alterations of the body, such as hair, skin, and clothing can suggest alignment with or rebellion against social conventions and to express ideas to others. Many artists explore visual expression through representations of the body and by using their bodies in their creative process. The poetry of bringing objects together to suggest or make strong statements can sometimes be elusive. Not only does one need the right objects to build a dialogue, but a keen observation of craft is important in developing a poetic voice that does not distract the artist’s intent.
Mission: (Project Description)
Create a sculptural form using elements from the human body and at minimum one other form. A cast component, plaster, or other material, of the body, will be a basis for their research. Other materials are not only encouraged but also expected in the final solution.
Project Examples:
Mold Making: Encapsulated Rubber Molds
Mission: (Project Description)
In this project, the student will be introduced to “Encapsulated Mold-making”. Rubber will be used as an interior jacket to collect surface and surface detail. A plaster exterior mother mold will be used to establish a structure for the flexible mold. Rubber is an elastic material that can pick up very minute detail. Its flexible quality allows it to be pulled and stretched to cast challenging objects that can not be cast from a more rigid material. The mold material can be used numerous times with many different materials, respectively.