FINAL PIECE
Link to Proposal: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSgJhbogYZ3WaiPw-eiwQ-QEEFUaeTt46fy9BxusyL98dQaaULFZIcMzrIZtrgl_1aq5UjX0DB3joR_/pub
PLANNING
In my initial plan, I outline wanting to make a 6ft tall sculpture of Nik Fiend in silicone, this is something I did not end up seeing through, but in this planning section I shall go through my main inspirations for this piece specifically, and will go through the details of my long and arduous journey to where I got to.
Damien Hirst-'Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable'
As Damien Hirst is one of the artists I have been studying for my final major, I thought it important to take inspiration from him with my sculptures and despite being commercially unsuccessful, I think this my favourite exhibition of his. He created an exhibition that looked like items that had been discovered from a shipwreck of a large ship called he 'Unbelievable', including sculptures cast in bronze, marble, gold and malachite. The exhibition is presented as items from a shipwreck from a long time ago, yet the exhibition includes sculptures of Mickey Mouse and the collector 'Cif Amotan,' who also bears striking resemblance to Hirst himself despite the Shipwreck being from a time where these characters don't exist. This brings into question 'is this real?' and also questions the idea of what is believable, and whether if something is not what it says it is, does that make it less valuable?
Value was the key element that I took from this, as well as the ideas surrounding the process of 'discovery.' Discovery in the sense that I can relate to Hirst as the 'Collector' in the same way I discover new music that isn't of my generation, I go and I discover it and it always feels very fresh and exciting as it is a glimpse into a time before I was born and have never experienced. Relating it to the band I focused on for this project, Bauhaus, I will never and have never experienced the Goth scene from the 1980's, but I feel that by discovering their music, it's like a little gem from that time that I can use to understand it, which I suppose is also what is exciting about archaeological discoveries.
The Golden Calf
The Biblical story of 'The Golden Calf' is something I've referenced throughout my Final Major by my use of gold leaf and the colour gold, but here I want it to be more explicitly referenced. The Golden Calf was a gold statue that the Israelites began to worship in place of God, as they saw the Egyptians and others also worshiping idols too, and as God decidedly was paying more attention to Moses on the mountain, they felt that they had been deserted by their leader. To me, this story represents the final rejection of faith once believed in. It also questions value, as the Hebrews actually placed more value in a statue that they themselves gave meaning to over the value of their faith. As I went to a sort-of church in my younger teenage years, one of the talks they gave us likened this story to our belief in pop-culture and the concept of 'are we spending more energy loving celebrities or sports icons or fashion models?' As, in this concept, it would be demonising something that is quite innocent, I found it highly pertinent for my final major. I got kicked out of the religious organisation I was a part of essentially, and replacing my faith with my belief in art and music technically is a form of idolatry, which is why I am so keen on exploring the theme of idolatry in my work. Damien Hirst also create a piece based on this story.
SCULPTING
Materials:
-Pebeo Kiln Clay (needs firing but does dry in the air, I like it because it takes longer to dry so I have more working time with it and it also feels very smooth to work with.)
-My 3 main tools:
-Armature (a lazy susan with a towel holder stuck to it, this means I can rotate the sculpture while sculpting and stops you resting your hand on the sculpture and changing it.)
Peter Murphy
I sat and completed this sculpture in 16 hours in one sitting. This was ultimately not a great way of working but I was fuelled off the back of a failure with the silicone casting and wanted to prove to myself that I was still capable, even if it did burn me out in the process.
As pictured, I build up the shapes of the face slowly and make sure the side profile is as accurate as possible before continuing with the process of building up the facial features. I was working from a picture where I had the dimensions drawn out so that I could rely on these if I felt like my eyes were deceiving me and I wasn't seeing the shapes as they actually are.
As Peter has a very thin face in the pictures I referenced, I found it difficult to get a sense of dimensionality in the face, as I was worried I was making him look too gaunt, but then was worried that filling out the jaw more would make his face to round. There was a strange in-between that I almost managed to achieve accurately but not quite. Also, I struggled with the eye shape with this, I had to re-sculpt them several times until I realised that the space around the brow and cheekbone wasn't right. Eyes ad eyelids are what I struggled with the most but I think this is in part to not fully understanding the structure of the face in this area in particular.
Kevin Haskins
I sculpted this over the course of 4 days in shorter bursts than the Peter Murphy on and I think it definitely shows. I also managed to get the eye shape a bit better this time. Having a more relaxed approach gave me several times to come back and notice new things that were wrong with it and correct them, whereas working for a long time your eyes get tired and you don't notice what's wrong and don't have the energy to correct it even if you do notice it. But I think I think this approach was definitely better than before.
I thought that going into this sculpture, Kevin would be the most difficult to sculpt. This is because compared to the other Bauhaus members, there are less images of him that exist that are just of him and not the entire band, however I actually found that the structure of his face was quite simple and that even when I was referencing more recent pictures of him, the fact he is a bit older in these pictures didn't hinder me in the sculpting process-it was actually quite helpful. As I was able to see the structure of his face, especially around the eyes, I was able to make something that was quite proportionate and accurate.
Daniel Ash
As I had sculpted Daniel before, I had the mindset that he would be the easiest to sculpt and would require little effort to get it right. I think this mindset pushed me to want to finish the sculpture as quickly as possible, which made me more forgiving of errors in the piece and therefore, not make something that looks particularly accurate-or at least to the same degree as my last Daniel Ash sculpture. Now, I can see the wonky proportions and the haphazard placement of the facial features. While I don't hate this piece, because I was able to get a basic likeness of him, I do wish I had waited a day before letting it dry just so that I could notice the wonkiness and correct it before letting it dry. The first thing I'd fix is the face shape and specifically the forehead if I could.
David J
This David J sculpture was an exercise in retribution against my own creative practise. In my first attempt at sculpting him, I created something that I'm not sure would pass as even a human, the proportions are all over the place and the face itself looks very strong. I think that he was the most difficult to sculpt, because in every picture of him I was referencing, he had glasses on, which totally skewed my perception of his face shape. It was difficult to find pictures of him from when he was younger from the angles that I need specifically for sculpting-which as a result of this I also wasn't working from a measured out picture so I had no help with the proportions at all.
This made me disheartened so I just let the original sculpture dry, knowing full well it didn't look right but also having no idea how to fix it.
I left this for a couple of weeks and came back to it after drawing David J a couple of times, and found that my understanding of his face shape had improved a little. I decided to sculpt this flat on the table instead of the armature, so that I wouldn't make the face to thin, which is what I had been doing because of the dimensionality of the sculptures in the space. This also helped me to create something more proportionate. I used Fimo clay for this too as it offers more resistance than airdry clay, which would help me make the face shape more dense. I also wouldn't have to wait for this to dry as all I had to do was cook him in the oven. Overall, my second attempt at this was a lot more successful than my first and I'm glad I went back to revisit it as I feel it shows how drawing skills and sculpting skills lend themselves to each other.
EXPERIMENTING
Silicone
When I first began to look at ways of producing my final piece, silicone was the first thing that I wanted to try. I had seen professional VFX model-makers use this and I was really impressed with the results. I decided to try to cast a Daniel Ash sculpture that I had been working on.
My first step was to apply about 12 layers of latex, three thin and the rest using a thickening agent and acrylic paint to make it more sturdy. Then I made a Modroc hardshell in two parts (half and half) to help the latex keep its shape in the casting process. I had my silicone materials, but when I tried to cast it in the latex, to my surprise at the time, the silicone wouldn't cure. I was extremely disheartened and my hands were feeling pretty crusty from washing the silicone off of them in turpentine several times that day.
I didn't know that latex and silicone do not like each other at all, and that even a tiny trace of latex will kill a batch of silicone and it won't cure. I researched and found a mighty list of all of the materials that will contaminate silicone and evaluated there and then that I wouldn't work in silicone anymore. It is an expensive material and I decided that I couldn't be using it for trial and error purely because of how expensive it is and how difficult it is to work with, and that I would save it for another time instead. Had the silicone have worked, I would've used expanding foam to create rigid core for the silicone to sit on top of and I would've painted it with silicone paint and used the process of hair punching to create something closer to hyper-realism.
Latex
Next I wanted to try the same process but with latex instead of silicone, build up layers of silicone inside a Modroc mould and use an expanding foam core on the inside.
*expanding foam
Following the same process as the silicone, I slowly layered the latex on the inside of the Modroc mould which I had glued balls of clay to the inside of the eyelids of to create an eye socket. The cotton I added to the wet latex so that the foam core would have something to attach itself to, and this worked for that purpose. The thing with latex is that if you apply it in a thick coat it will just skin over and wont dry properly, so I had issues with the nose and lips where the latex had skinned over. I found the latex very difficult to patch as well.
I decided not to pursue this method further, even though in some cases it can work out fine, I knew that I would be too impatient in the casting process for imperfections like this to not occur, plus the fact that I was finding the latex so difficult to patch up just put me off the process entirely.
So with these two options down, I realised that my only other option would be to work onto the sculptures themselves instead of working onto a cast. And possibly forget the idea of working to any real degree of hyper-realism.
Plaster-of-Paris
These are some lifecasts I took of my face, cast from a Modroc mould. The last two are where I traced the lines in the cast (I had filled the modroc with cling film and this was the accidental result, and it also cut off my nose) using fluorescent acrylic paint. Under the UV light, I really liked how bright the paint came out and I wanted to develop on this further...
Inspired by the Damien Hirst exhibition, I wanted to experiment with adding coral to my sculptures to see how it looked. I used a plaster cast of my original David J sculpture, and stuck blobs of clay to it using epoxy glue, the when the clay dried it dried attached to the plaster. I dotted the clay with different sized pencils and clay sculpting tools. I painted the cast the colour of oxidised copper and contrasted this with bright coloured coral. I felt that with more attention payed to the colour palette of the coral, this might've been more effective.
With this one I used the same process as the one above, except I painted him white and gave him pastel coloured coral. I just wanted to experiment further with the colours I was using, to see if I wanted to add the coral to the main final piece sculptures. Ultimately, I decided not to take this further because I felt it might ruin my final piece or distract from the meaning behind it.
I didn't use the plaster casts as my final piece because modroc moulds tend to have more imperfections and the quality of these casts was not high enough to the point that I would feel happy with them. Also, the plaster and modroc can bond together and ruin the cast very easily, so I wouldn't want to risk that.
FINAL STAGES
Adding hair
While the picture is only of an early stage, I still prefer the way this ended up looking over the hair. I was able to get something that looked much thicker and had more movement, which helped the piece feel more whole.
Painting
Materials I used: Acrylic Paint, Gloss Varnish, Matte Varnish
I changed the David J sculpture from being blue to white because he has blonde hair and realised that he would look like a smurf if I kept him as he was.
These colours were taken specifically from the stones used in Damien Hirst's exhibition that I mentioned earlier. So they are all supposed to like precious materials. I really liked the look of the blue Lapis Lazuli, but ultimately decided to make the David J sculpture white with a matte finish so that he looked like he was made of porcelain, which I decided on based on the cover of his album 'Crocodile Tears and the Velvet Cosh' which is all white with a small illustration on the front and a delicate font. I thought the overall feel of this could represent the qualities of porcelain quite well. I chose a Red Jade look for Kevin, as I didn't want a normal Jade colour because then I'd have too many green sculptures! But I've seen it used for many oriental sculptures and have always been a fan of the regal look it has about it. I referenced the colour of Malachite for my Daniel sculpture. Hirst uses this material in his exhibition, and I thought it was very effective! The Romans used Malachite a lot but in small quantities as it is poisonous, but it is a very precious substance. For these stone-based sculptures I used gloss varnish to give them the reflective quality of a stone. I used gold spray paint for Peter. I liked the idea that Gold is an incorruptible substance, it will remain perfect forever, even if its shipwrecked at the bottom of the sea. There's a part in David J's book where he references Peter Murphy saying 'The Golden Boy could do no wrong.' So I thought it was highly pertinent for me to make him gold.
Photographing
I used my iPad to create a gel effect so that I was able to get coloured lighting. I photographed with my iPhone 7, which struggled under the lowlight conditions where it wouldn't focus or create a sharp image, however for the most part it held up very well. The iPad screen created a very bright light and I was able to use different colours, some Ombre backgrounds to, to create variation. I was very excited by these colours and how the varnish reflected the light.
These are my favourites from the photoset, for their contrast, colour and ambience
EVALUATION
Changes To The Plan
Everything seemed to be going wrong. After all, it was the silicone process that I had planned for. The further I strayed from this, the more I felt that I was failing. There were points where I thought that I should just do a painting for my final piece, because it would be much easier. I know appreciate why there aren't many sculptors that are aiming for the same degree of realism as me, because it's extremely difficult and also the constant ebb and flow of failure and resurrection during the sculpting process can make it a very arduous process. I felt exhausted after finishing my sculptures, I didn't pick them up for a whole month because I was so burnt out. from the process. But ultimately, I have learnt how to cope with failure very well, because where there was failure, there was always the next process to try-I was constantly trying to move forwards and never stand still.
Ultimately, I am happy that I didn't do the silicone process, because I don't imagine I would have been very excited by the outcome and I also don't feel that my level of sculpting skills are on par to make this really hyper-realistic as I envisioned it. I am very much excited by contemporary sculptures, there is something fantastical about them-sculptures are so easy to believe as they inhibit the same space as we do. There is not question of validity as there is with many paintings, you cannot deny their existence, which makes it a very exciting medium to work in. So I am happy I was able to work in clay and make my final piece in clay too, it felt right for the time and for the stage that I am at with my own skill set as I have only been sculpting on and off for 3 years and never to the degree of realism that I was attempting this time.
Relating to the Final Major
'The man of shadows thinks in clay' also makes my use of clay in my final piece very relevant. I would think that my final piece is the embodiment of what my final major it about, rejection of religion but also having themes of idolatry with the gold leaf and the fact that the sculptures are made to look like precious stones. 'The Man of Shadows' seems like quite a lonely description, which is quite pertinent for the fact that I have made these in lockdown, at home, on my own. Also, wanting to portray the members of Bauhaus in the right way was something I'm conscious of, but that is subjective. Personally, I don't see them as being black and white because the mashup of genres in their music is very colourful and very exciting to me. It doesn't match the aesthetic of the band, but then I don't know the members of the band personally nor am I affiliated in any way with them, so as a fan of them I am allowed to hold my own unique perception of what their music is like to me. Maybe the fact that I didn't know they were a Post Punk/ Goth Band when I discovered them combined with the fact that I wasn't born at a time to experience the Goth scene in the 1980s where they were very popular, means that I uniquely don't feel any particular attachment to the goth label and don't feel that my portrayal of them has to either.
Challenges
My biggest challenge was dealing failure and self-confidence. I have been incredibly hard on myself because I felt that I wasn't capturing the likeness to the degree that I wanted to. There was a great deal of second-hand embarrassment too, as I tend to think myself into a hole and I began to think 'what if one of them sees this and thinks that they're terrible' and also the notion that I would find it quite strange if someone I didn't know was trying to replicate what my face looks like in clay. The only way I could get over this was by convincing myself that they will hopefully never see this or find this page and also that for the stage that I am at with my sculpting journey, if I am happy with the outcome then that is a good start. Technically I'm not making these for the members of Bauhaus as this isn't really fan-service, I like them for the personal meaning they hold to me because of the themes of my final piece, it just happened that I referenced them specifically.
How I would change things next time
It's easy to say that next time, I would make my initial idea work out first time, but then I don't feel like I would've learnt anything about the sculpting process. I do think that working on my time management would help me, as if I had planned to give every sculpture I longer time and sculpted in shorter bursts of time, I am convinced that my sculptures would have been of a higher quality in terms of realism. I think I would've capitalised on the idea of masks in relation Bauhaus more as well, maybe looking at how masks are used and made throughout history, particularly samurai masks, which I thin hold a lot of meaning and are very interesting. For the processes i wanted to use, I was right to not sculpt the hair on, however, if I remade these I would sculpt the face and hair and ears at the same time as attaching them successfully afterwards can be quite difficult.
I would also use the right air-dry clay, as Kiln clay will not dry properly in the air alone and needs firing in a Kiln.
Summary
While my Final Piece is not representative of my initial plans, I am fairly happy with the outcome. I really struggled with being highly self-critical of the sculptures throughout the process of making them which dramatically effected my confidence and my belief in sculpture as a medium. But I feel like I have improved dramatically at my sculpting throughout the course of my final major and I've learnt so much about the medium that I think it has been an extremely valuable experience. I do really love the romanticism that is seen in sculpture only as a medium, any highly skilled painter can paint someone to look their best, but sculpting just feels very special to me. At points in the sculptures, where I felt that it was going well, it was this sort of magical experience where I began to recognise who I was sculpting and I felt so accomplished-and alive in my creative practise which is something I haven't experienced before, I think that in a less time-pressured environment, my sculpting skills might really flourish. I am very excited to discover new things about the sculpting process and see where it takes me; it is definitely something I want to specialise in in the future.
Statistics: Total time spent = 80 hours
Sculpting = 57 hours
Peter Murphy
1 sitting, 16 hours
Kevin Haskins
Restarted once, 5 sittings, 5 hours each, 25 hours
Daniel Ash
1 sitting, 5 hours
David J
Restarted twice, 4 sittings, 2x 6 hours, 2x 5 hours, 11 hours
Casting = 6 hours
2 sittings, 1x 2 hours, 1x 4 hours, 6 hours
Painting = 6 hours
2 sittings, 3 hours, 6 hours
Adding Hair =9 hours
Restarted once, 1x 5 hours, 1x 4 hours, 9 hours
Photographing = 2 hours
2 sittings, 1 hour each, 2 hours
BONUS:
Comments
Post a Comment