methods and materials

My first sculpture course in the MFA program was a Studio Processes class.  Basically it was an overview of the tools and equipment in the studio and our assignments were exercises in using the machines.

Keep in mind that I am coming into this course with very little power tool equipment   My experience was pretty much limited to a power drill and an electric sander.  Any tool that came equipped with a swiftly moving sharp implement was way out of my league.  BF actually said "Do they know you're afraid of power tools?"  Yes, I am afraid of  power tools.  I'm sorry but anything that can remove an appendage in a millisecond is pretty scary!

So I approached the class as a new person.  

None of these people knew how scared I was.  

No one knew past Christine.  

I entered the course with an outward appearance of confidence while concealing a feeling of jello and a mantra of holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshitholyshitholyshit. 

Our first assignment was in the wood shop.  We were to create an object using 5 joinery methods.

I got an A.

It moves.

Next we experimented with molds and casting.  I felt pretty out of my element here.  I'd never done anything like it.  We used liquid rubber to create molds of objects and then caste the object in various materials.  I used jello, epoxy, plaster, crayon, and plastic.

Then we moved on to metal.

And my life changed.

Of course, I'd had minimal experience with metal, namely silver and copper and soldering.  But this was a whole new game.

Welding my friends.  WELD ING.

Apparently welding takes some time to learn to really create good looking welded seams.  The studio tech said I was a natural and did pretty good for a beginner.  I continued to practice and will continue over the holiday break because it is so awesome.  I love it!

Here's my first couple of attempts.   

See the holes where the metal should be joined?  Yeah, that's bad.  And aluminum is pretty difficult to weld ( the one on the left) so it look s pretty bad too.

But I liked it so much I kept trying.

For my final project I really wanted to revisit all of the tools that I'd been introduced to, especially the welding.  I was coming to the table with a lot of experience throwing cups out of clay so i decided to make cups out of everything BUT clay.  This would provide me with more chances to use the equipment and become more comfortable with the power tools.

I made cups from various types of wood using joinery and the lathe.

Then I casted cups of cement and plaster and created cups from various organic objects.  I began thinking about what people might have made drinking vessels out of besides clay.  

I used bamboo, a gourd, and a coconut.

Then I began to focus on metal.  These are my copper cups.  The little one was first.  As it turned out, the copper was too thin and so I was quite unsuccessful welding it.  However, the fires cale and the mistakes are really what I like about it.  

Aesthetically, I prefer it to the others which showcase my improved welding skills.

See?  Now that's a good looking weld people!

My favorite cup turned out to be the steel cup.  I'd gone into the auto parts store and happened to noticed something called a "dust cap".  Not sure what the intended purpose is but I saw it immediately as a great start for a cup.

It became the bottom for my steel vessel.  I welded the seem for the cup itself but I had to attach the bottom  via soldering.  Now, when soldering something this big, my little jewelers torch couldn't get it hot enough so I had to use the acetylene torch at school.  It's basically a huge torch of fire.  

It was fantastic!  I felt like such a bad ass welder chick!  Perhaps I'v seen Flashdance too many times ....

Anyway, all that heat created some beautiful fire scale and those little balls of silver are actually unmelted solder.  It's pretty difficult to be precise when you have a 12 inch flame leaping from your hands!

But I love its imperfections.