Sculpture – Anndelize: Visual Artist

Homemade Paper Maché Clay

Furthering my investigations into paper as a material I sourced a wonderful paper maché clay recipe from Ultimate Paper Maché, a great site for paper maché know-how. I did adapt the recipe somewhat to Australian products but other than that I followed their recipe to a fault.

The result was an amazing air-dried clay. Once dry it can be sanded to an almost porcelain-perfect finish. It holds even the finest of detail well and is very refined and strong.

Here then are a few images showing my investigations with this homemade clay recipe.

Homemade paper maché clay that holds great detail. — Homemade paper maché clay. Pliable and holds great detail.

A miniature bowl that I made from the clay, photographed with a pen for scale.

After some sanding the surface was smooth. — After some sanding the surface was smooth. It almost has a marbled look after I added a glaze to it.

The bottom of the mini bowl.

A mini 'marbled' bowl. Too cute. — A mini ‘marbled’ bowl, top view. Too cute.

From the side.

This clay has so much potential, I will definitely be using it again.

Feather

feather — A feather from our pet macaw, Mandrake

stripped — Stripping the feather to expose the quill

braided — Braiding the feather, pretty

quill — The naked quill

bent quill — The quill, bent and snapped

Soda Can

sliced — The top of the can ‘sliced’ off

torn — Tearing strips from the can

torn strip — A torn strip, so pretty.

cut — ‘Dissecting’ the can by cutting into it

embossed — Embossed beauty

embossed — The embossing gives it a fan-like appearance

folded — Folded

rolled — Rolled

Bottle Top

impaled — Impaled with a nail.

pock-marked — Pock-marked and punctured

edges flattened — Flattened and ‘turned over’ edges

folded — Folded outward

folded — Folded inward

stacked — Stacked

Clothes Peg

take apart — Deconstructing the clothes peg.

split — I split the wood with a sharp knife.

burn — Watching it burn and smoulder.

carve — Using a sharp knife I whittled the wood.

Copper Wire

bent — Bending copper wire by hand is easy as it is soft.

snapped — After too much fiddling the wire snaps

braided — Pretty braid using thin copper wire.

knotted — Knotting copper wire, more satisfying than it looks.

woven — The thinner wire is easily ‘crocheted’ into a frame.

soldered — The best part was soldering the wire together. Very satisfying.

Nylon Stocking

stretched — Nylon stretched over a wooden frame.

ripped — Ripped and laddered. This was fun to do.

yarn — I cut strips of nylon which I then used as yarn to weave a spider’s web.

stretched — Nylon tightly stretched over a frame. Pretty.

Candle Wax

moulded — Melted, then remoulded into a shape. In this example I embedded cotton string into the wax.

shaved — Shavings. This was satisfying to do.

carved — Carved. Wax is very responsive to carving.

Ken & Julia Yonetani

Ken & Julia Yonetani, 2014. The Last Supper (detail.) Constructed entirely from groundwater salt. 9 meter table laid with a variety of ‘foodstuff’. Commissioned by Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre. Accessed from: http://netsaustralia.org.au/whats-on/last-supper/

Bubble Wrap

Furthering my investigations of materials as I explore the concept of immigration I next turned to bubble wrap. I chose this material to indicate the packing up of one life to begin another in a new country.

bubble-wrap-ink-green — Cut into strips and inked green with fuchsia.

braided — Braided strips.

inked-melted2 — Inked red and melted under a flame

inked-melted — Inked red, melted under the over grill.

bubble-wrap-ink-red — Red ink, looks like blood. Like the blood, sweat and tears that goes with immigrating.

bubble-wrap — The green and red strips merged together with extreme melting under an open flame.

Foreign Currency

Exploring the theme of immigration I started looking at how I could investigate foreign currency as a sculpturing material. For this experiment I used South African currency, i.e. Rands. What follows are a few of the results of this investigation.

note-burnt — A R20 bill, burnt with incense sticks, placed against a colourful background

note-glazed — A R20 bill, burnt and glazed. The texture after glazing was wonderful!

note-unglazed — A R20 bill, burnt and rolled, not yet glazed. I love the way the light shines through the holes.

note-woven — A R10 bill, cut into strips, glazed and woven together again. Very satisfying.

Martin Puryear

Martin Puryear, Ladder for Booker T. Washington, 1996. Wood (ash and maple). 432 x 22 3/4 (narrowing to 1 1/4 at top) x 3 inches. Accessed from: http://themodern.org/

Tom Friedman

Tom Friedman, 2012. Title Unknown (Apples). Installation, painted styrofoam. Accessed from: http://magazine.saatchiart.com

Huang Yong Ping

Huang Yong Ping, 2005-2006. Walking up Language. Ceramics. 225 x 125 x 100 cm. Accessed from: http://www.kamelmennour.com/

David Mach

David Mach, date unknown. 933-Buddha. Wire coat hangers & gold leaf. 53 x 54 x 58 cm. Accessed on 12 September, 2015 from: https://se.royalacademy.org.uk/

John Bisbee

John Bisbee, 1994. Shell. Welded brads. 13 x 16 x 16 in. Accessed from: http://www.johnbisbee.com/

David Mach

David Mach, date unknown. Predator. Foam & pins. 52 cm high. Accessed on 12 September, 2015 from: David Mach Gallery