Meditation

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The Premise

The final sculpture project allowed students to work with the foundry to pour molten aluminum casts. This specific design came from photographs of myself.

The Process

This aluminum cast portrays myself in a state of calm.

+Phase one required a sketched design.

+Phase two required strips of thin cardboard meticulously layered and glued together.

+Phase three took the cardboard template, now coated with an oily residue, and immersed it into some freshly mixed plaster.

+Phase four, after removing the cardboard template from the plaster mold and submerging the completely dried mold into a soapy water, required the pouring of melted wax into the mold. Once the wax solidified most of the way, the wax cast was then removed by submerging the entire mold into a tub/sink of cool water allowing the wax cast to pop out easily.

+Fifth five placed the wax cast facing up onto a huge table surrounded by a large wooden frame made of solid wooden boards. Talcum powder was peppered onto the wax cast and table. Dirt is packed into the frame tightly to hold the impression and materials in place. Another frame packed with dirt is prepped with a few holes leading into the wax mold impression (necks) and some passages carved to mitigate flow (veins for the molten aluminum to drain into). Before merging the two frame halves together, the wax mold is carefully removed (when the initial frame is carefully flipped over. A large, wide board was used to support the dirt while flipping the frame). The molten aluminum is then poured into the dirt mold.

+Phase six is the post production work. The mold is strapped into a bench vice where the mold is separated from the aluminum veins via hacksaw and metallic file. The mold underwent some polishing before going through sandblasting to establish roughness. The aluminum cast necks remain intact so that threads can be carved into them and screws can be used to fasten the mold to the frame. Holes were drilled into the frame to slide the screws in. The wooden frame with holes in it was then given a coat of acrylic paint. The final step lightly sprinkled pigment powder onto the cast and rubbed it with aluminum wool.