Final Bronze Series
Using ammonia gas, I coloured the bronze and mounted them on the wall to draw the viewer in. There are seven pieces on display in total.
Cleaning the Bronzes:
The bronze objects that I poured still have a long way to go before becoming finished pieces. The ceramic shell is chipped off with a hammer and chisel, and then sandblasted. This process needs to be repeated several times to make sure there is no shell left. The runners and risers need to be cut off using a grinder and then the remaining objects need to be displayed and presented so that the work can be realised. Colour and polishing techniques can be considered at a later stage and once the entire collection of objects has been poured and cleaned. Despite these pieces being produced, they are still very much a work-in-progress.
Bronze Pour 2.0:
The actual pour was hard work because of the heat and the weight of the metal. The bronze needs to be poured quickly to avoid any problems with the objects once they are removed from the mould. The metal cools within a few hours and the ceramic shell mould is smashed to release the objects.
Bronze Pour:
Following on from the Burn Out process, the moulds are ready to pour. By setting up the foundry and heating the bronze to 1200degrees (which takes a few hours), we then began pouring.
Bronze Mould Burn Out 2: Continuation of the process
With the wax burnt out of the ceramic mould, bronze can now be poured into the mould. The burn out temperature was about 1000 degrees, to pour bronze, this temperature will increase by at least 200 degrees!
Bronze Mould Burn out: Stage one of the Bronze Pouring process.
Burning out the wax objects and prepping the ceramic shell moulds for the Bronze. Once the mould are inside the 1000 degree heat, they are left for about 20-30minutes and left to cool.
Ink Experimentation 4.0
These ink experimentations demonstrate how a liquid edge can be explored, if not indefinitely defined.
Ink Experimentation 3.0
Again, lighting is a vital consideration. Darker ink reacts differently in water and falls more slowly.
Ink Experimentation 2.0
By using different lighting, the illusion of solidarity has been created and the relationship between the photographic experimentation and the object development has been established.
Ink Experimentations
Development from the Initial Ink Series, I have considered the ink as more of an object. This has been the inspiration and initial starting point for my own objects: Imprints of liquid edges.
