Plaster Dipping

I have been experimenting with plaster as a sculptural material following my research on fabric casting. I was interested in the boundaries between hard and soft and have continued along this vein of exploration. One of the other materials that I have been experimenting with is rope, and so I have decided to fuse these two ideas together.

I recently dipped a number of textile items, including rope and calico. Here are some of the pieces drying.

I wanted to focus on the boundary between rigid and pliable and so dipped the ropes at different heights. One of the ropes I completely encased in the plaster, doing this meant that it was no longer textile at all and had completely changed its form.

Another item that I dipped was a piece of calico which i had slashed at equal intervals. I was inspired to do this by some packaging i found. Where the packaging had been slashed, it meant that it could now be stretched without breaking. When the slashes were stretched, they became a series of pockets in the paper which were both visually stimulating and tactile. I was curious as to whether this design could be converted to fabric, so I slashed some calico in the same pattern. as the paper and calico have different weights they held their shape differently, with the calico less inclined to stay stretched by itself. I went on to dip the slashed calico in plaster. I was interested to see how the weight and resulting stretch would affect the form.

Making nets

Open weave and mesh like materials have featured in much of my visual research so far, I am drawn to the repetitive structures and the possibility of playing with tension to distort the shape. I have decided that hand knotted nets would be a good technique to explore as they are relatively easy to create while being very versatile. I watched a number of youtube videos on the subject and have read some how-tos online and have come to the conclusion that a basic cargo net using an overhand knotting technique is the simplest to create. I will set up a grid to ensure uniformity and make the process easier. Once the net is complete I intend to play with the tension and ‘stretch’ created by the pattern of knots.

Rope sculpture

Using Susan Baellor-Snyder as my inspiration, I have begun to create some compositions using rope. I am focusing on using the rope as line and exploring the different shapes and forms created by hanging, overlapping and knotting. I invited fellow students to create a composition of their own and photographed the outcome as a starting place to be developed upon later. I am interested in exploring an interactive sculpture/form with a transitional nature as part of my final show.

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Slip Dipping cont.

My slip casts are out of the kiln and they are unbelievably fragile! The firing process burns away any organic material or combustibles ie the string, so that you are left with a hollow slip shell. I am really pleased with a few of these, especially the slashed packaging. I have discussed with my tutor the option of glazing these, either with a clear glaze or trying a copper oxide, which will go a greenish brown, but for now I am going to leave them bisque-fired. I really like the look and feel of them this way as they fit in with my desired aesthetic.

Slip Dipping

Today I did a few quick experiments with slip casting string of varying thicknesses, twine and some interestingly textured packaging. I used the the string to sample a number of distinctive knots. I also created shapes by wrapping and carefully arranging the string/twine, I then dipped these in casting slip, taking care to massage the slip into the fibres before letting the excess drain off and letting them dry.

Frances Wright & Leyla Folwell

Lauren Meyer

Anthony Foo

 

Fabric casting

Today I experimented with fabric casting. I had never come across this technique before until one of my tutors suggested it to me, so I thought I should start by googling it. I found that it is a fairly new, innovative way to cast unconventional shapes for use in a number of different industries including architectural design.

Florian Schmid is a furniture designer who has used a similar technique to create practical and beautiful objects for the home. He produced a series of stools made from what he calls concrete canvas, which is basically fabric impregnated with cement. He accents the concrete with brightly coloured stitching along the folds of the forms. He says of the project:

“The Material combines the warm softness of the cloth and the stability of the cold concrete, but the finished surface keeps the soft appearance. The Project plays with a visual delusion that actually cloth can not give the strength to sit on.”

I really like this juxtaposition of soft and hard, smooth and textured, this is something I have explored previously and intend to develop upon further.

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I felt that fabric casting would be a useful process to explore given its wide-reaching sculptural possibilities. The basic process involves creating a mould, using fabric, into which you pour the casting material. I created a number of fabric ‘pockets’ which I would then fill with plaster.

As this was my first time experimenting with this technique, I didn’t put too much thought into the ‘pockets’ I was creating. I just wanted to get a feel for some of the possible shapes I could create. I used a sewing machine to stitch a few pockets, focusing on curved forms, but also wanted to explore how I could constrain the cast within a more simple rectangular shape.

Below are the pockets before I poured the plaster.

I started with the larger shape on the left, unfortunately the plaster mix was a bit thick and so I had to manually squeeze much of the plaster through the gaps leading to an irregular surface. I then mixed up some thinner plaster and this passed through the channels much easier.

Below are the casts at various stages of unwrapping.