Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis

Sketchbook work

06/01/16

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis

Evaluation of paint sculptures

06/01/16

Continuing on with my colour association theory, I have begun to experiment further with pouring paint over small sculptures I have made using left over plaster from other experiments. 

I have filmed the actual motion of pouring the paint and have began to experiment making short videos that show the change of the sculpture that shows the sculpture before and after.

Will Kendrick:

Will Kendrick is an artist who pours paint over everyday objects, much like I have. The materials he uses means that the paint retains the shape it made while poured, and so traps the object within a cover of textured colour.

Taking his work into account, I could also look at doing something similar, however, rather than the focus being in the actual object, it would be on the shape and how it changes throughout the stages of the application process and the drying process.

To do this, I will be filming the actual process of pouring the plaster and the setting process, as well as he colour application process to make a full video of the full process and the change in form and colour

Using wax:

To get the same effect as Kendrick, I thought about using wax and letting it cool in a way that let the hot wax drip down, however, it only coated a thin layer of wax onto the leaf. Eventually, after dipping it enough times the coat got thicker and droplets did start to form, but not in a strong enough formation for me to consider using further.

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis

Plaster Exploration

30/12/15

Over the exploration of the theme of Matemorphosis, I have done a lot of development using plaster and paint. Over the time of the project, I decided to take my hidden communication idea towards colour association, and so had chosen specific colours that I knew conveyed different emotions, while other people would just see them as colours. 

As well as developing my colour association idea, I had began to make numerous different plaster 'lumps', which I made using left over plaster from other experiments. These plaster pieces then became essential to my idea development when I started experimenting with videos as well.

Using the plaster pieces, I started to apply different colours to see how the paint would interact with the different textures that each different plaster piece held. I dripped the paint on at the beginning of the experiments, but then moved on to pouring the paint, as it seemed to mix better and created some very unusual colours, which I then took into my final piece idea.

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis

Incorporating Plants

24/12/15

I made the  decision to begin incorporating plants into my project, since it was something I was interested in, and it was also something that has become a running theme throughout my work in all units. Not only that, but plants showed an element of metamorphosis, I feel, through the stages of decay, since plants are something that are constantly changing. 

Using the plaster block I had created the week previous, I decided to try and fix ivy into it somehow, but before doing that, I covered it in sand by first painting it was a PVA glue and water mixture. Overall the sand didn't stick too well, but it worked well enough for what I had planned.

After sticking the sand into the block, I began thinking about how I could add the ivy into it in a way that had interesting shapes to look at, and looked different from every angle. 

Since the plaster was relatively soft. I was able to push lengths of wire into it that were curved because they had come off a coil. This seemed like a good idea as it had the interesting shapes I wanted and looked different from every angle.

When it came to putting the ivy on, I soon became aware that the wire was too thin and lightweight to support the weight of the plant, and so I moved on to looking at how I could still achieve the same affect, but rather than using a lot of wire or a thicker wire for support, how j could use the plant on its own, in a way that it could still support itself.

I found some unique shaped branches of ivy, ones that had twisted in strange ways rather than having plain and straight clippings, and began looking at a way I could apply them to the block without using huge amounts of wire.

I then thought about pinning it in using the wire I had experimented with, so that, rather than having the plants in their own, I had something to secure them to the plaster as well as something that would enable me to place the clippings as I wished without a huge length of wire to guide them. 

To create the pins, I simply pushed some wire that was about 4 centimetres long into one end of the ivy clipping and folded it over so that it was secure around the branch, and dos it to the other end, then pushed it into the plaster block where I wanted it. 

This method gave me a lot more control over the plant unlike the previous method, and it also made it look a lot more natural, as there was little wire to be seen.

Once I had as much ivy on the block as I wanted, I then began using previous experimentation with apply paint techniques as well as my chosen colours for the colour association. I dropped the colours into the block, which was sat in a piece of A2 paper, so that the ivy clippings were sufficiently covered, and the technique used was also shown on the paper, which would also become part of the piece.

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis

Final Experiementation and Idea Development

23/12/15

Going back to my earlier research into colour asociation and emotions, I had finally found 5 emotions that are suitable and relate to the three poems. 

- Satisfaction: Cadmium Yellow

- Alertness: Pale Lemon Yellow

- Purification: Colbalt Blue

- Dignity: Medium Violet

- Judgement: Violet

In order of use, I have done Alertness, or pale lemon yellow, for when Diana became aware of Actaeon whilst bathing, Dignity, which is Medium Violet, for when she stood up and acted against Actaeon in order to preserve hers and the women around her from loss of dignity, Judgment, a Violet, for when she judged Actaeon as a sneak and determined that he should be punished, Purification, a Colbalt blue, for the moment when she turned Actaeon into a deer for his own dogs to hunt and kill, in which her and her women's entourage's purity was restored, and lastly, Satisfaction, a Cadmium yellow, for when Actaeon was killed. 

The first experimentation was to see how the colours went together, and so I simply brushed them onto a page and then blended them together slightly with a dry sponge.

The second experimentation included using a paint dripping method as I had been previously. Using the same colours that I had chosen, I mixed them with water and poured it over a piece of cardboard I had painted white. 

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis 

Experimentation and Development Ideas

09/12/15

Using a technique I learn from last year, I made a rough shaped sculpture out of chicken wire which I would later cover in newspaper that had been soaked in water mixed with PVA glue, which would then be coated in plaster.

Getting the shape was simple enough, as I didn't want any specific shape, all it needed was a base so that it would stand on it's own. I filled the middle with a bit of balled up newspaper so that it had some support and wouldn't cave in from the weight of the plaster.

Once I had done this, I covered it in multiple layers of PVA soaked newspaper, so that I then had something to pour the plaster onto.

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis

Experimentation and Development Ideas

02/12/15

Continuing with using plaster, I decided to see if I could create a completely smooth surface so that I could use it within later experiments.

The technique is called Cottling, and is where you use four pieces of shiny wood that are stood up leaning against each other, with a coil of clay on each seam, so that nothing leaks out. It works better on a shiny surface, as it comes off of the surface easier when dried. Soft soap helps the plaster to come away from what it is touching easier, so to begin with, I applied soft soap to the surface I was working on.

Once I had pressed clay into every seam and made sure it was tight, I could then pour in the plaster.

I filled it as near to the top as possible, since one of the wooden planks I was using wasn't as tall as the rest, banged the table around it so that it would set into the space and then left it to dry.

Once it was dry, it was a simple matter of lightly tapping the inside of each wooden plank until it fell away, and then tapping the table lightly near the plaster so that it would come away from the table. The result was a perfectly smooth, almost cube block of plaster that I could use as a plinth or in other experiments. 

One the plaster was relatively dry, I began to smooth the edges so that they were no longer sharp, but curved and smoothed.