BLOG01 : Oct. 13., 2021
FINDING LOST WAX
This is the first blog post of my virtual residency with D’Clinic. In the first couple of days I have been exploring some initial ideas for my residency project using wax and casting techniques. Since I will be using the Lost Wax method to cast new metal works in the foundry during this residency, creating forms in wax is the first step.
These are forms I have been collecting by pouring brown wax into single-use plastic packaging as if they were molds. I recently began collecting these plastic items and discovered they accumulate into a significant mass quite quickly. After working with the first few items, a floodgate of garbage opened up to me. I see these plastic forms everywhere- in the trash or recycling around work, on the street, in my groceries and holding food items, material packaging at the studio where I teach, etc. Many of these plastic “molds” are specifically formed to the shape of the product they are designed to hold. When you open the package, the single job of the plastic casing is done. I want to continue to collect these throughout my residency, to explore a transformation of that space. They become vessels that hold the traces of an object. I fill them with wax and let them solidify, creating something positive out of that negative space.
I will use these cast pieces as building blocks for new forms, letting their shapes determine the connections that develop. I look forward to diving deeper into this materiality and discovering ways to give body to empty, discarded, or undesirable spaces.
