2016 Foundry Flashback

A few years ago, I had the chance to cast in aluminum and bronze during a summer class. These process photos are from the facilities at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

The process begins with wax ‘patterns’ that contain all of the information of the final work. I made small silicone molds to duplicate found textures like nuts, screws, cicada wings, and even a bee.

Here are the designed layers before they are nested.

The layers had to be cut and fit together to be sure they would function.

The pattern parts need to be assembled onto ‘trees’ of wax for the metal to flow into the work. I needed bronze and aluminum, so I assembled 2 trees.

The finished assembly gets covered in many layers of a ceramic and sand mixture, known as ceramic shell. The shell is hardened in a kiln while the wax runs out.

After the pour, the shells are broken off. Parts are cut free from their trees and cleaned. My parts needed some shaping and touching up to be ready for assembly.

This is like opening presents. I was happy that most of the parts came out perfectly.

The final work is assembled, cleaned up, and painted. This piece has 3 concentric layers that move freely within one another. They reference Chinese carved ivory spheres.

I also made an experimental set of tools for linocut printmaking.