Presentation Title
New Approaches to Sculptural Casting
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation/Art Exihibt
College
College of Art & Letters
Major
Art
Location
Event Center A & B
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Katherine Gray
Start Date
5-19-2016 1:00 PM
End Date
5-19-2016 2:30 PM
Abstract
The focus of this research was to learn two specific approaches of casting sculptural objects to later apply to my artistic practice. For the first part of my research, I learned the process of utilizing low-fire bismuth alloy to create a three-dimensional form. Brushable silicone was applied to a clay form that was later poured into, resulting in a metal object. The attraction to this type of metal casting is the accessibility-it can be melted simply using a standard stove top. The second portion of my research was to conduct a series of compatibility testing with different brands of glass casting material. To approach this, I fabricated a series of small objects utilizing glasses of different expansions rates and colors. These forms, which took the shape of flies, were dropped into separate square-shaped plaster-silica molds containing the standard glass we use at CSUSB. Molten material was immediately dropped on top, encasing the original colored fly. Upon cooling, I observed the resulting objects to see which had cracked (indicating incompatibility) and/or greatly distorted the original object (not preferable for artwork). The findings and knowledge obtained from both of these casting methods were then applied to my sculptural artwork.
New Approaches to Sculptural Casting
Event Center A & B
The focus of this research was to learn two specific approaches of casting sculptural objects to later apply to my artistic practice. For the first part of my research, I learned the process of utilizing low-fire bismuth alloy to create a three-dimensional form. Brushable silicone was applied to a clay form that was later poured into, resulting in a metal object. The attraction to this type of metal casting is the accessibility-it can be melted simply using a standard stove top. The second portion of my research was to conduct a series of compatibility testing with different brands of glass casting material. To approach this, I fabricated a series of small objects utilizing glasses of different expansions rates and colors. These forms, which took the shape of flies, were dropped into separate square-shaped plaster-silica molds containing the standard glass we use at CSUSB. Molten material was immediately dropped on top, encasing the original colored fly. Upon cooling, I observed the resulting objects to see which had cracked (indicating incompatibility) and/or greatly distorted the original object (not preferable for artwork). The findings and knowledge obtained from both of these casting methods were then applied to my sculptural artwork.