New idea for a woven sculpture.

As readers of my blog, you may already know I use basketry weaves to create my woven sculptures. I’m always experimenting and trying out new weaves including recently the Corn Dollie weave.
My new move into using metal to weave with has led to some very sore fingers, so I was thinking of using a hand tool to take some of the strain off of my hands.
One type of weave that uses a tool is Crochet, so I’m planning to learn the basic weaves or stitches and see if it will work in my spherical sculpture work.
Watch this space over the coming days for my results.

Ive been selected as artist in residence for the Revive arts in empty shops for Ilkeston this Oct/Nov. Heres a sneak peak at what I will be doing, these tiny woven shapes will be created in their hundreds and suspended from the ceiling to create a woven paper installation.

Information will be added shortly on how you can get involved or visit the exhibit.  

The latest wax work sphere, this time a small hand held piece measuring approx 10cm diameter, all ready to be turned into bronze. 

Bronze corn dollie weaves made using the new wax have returned from Pangolin Editions and they look fantastic.

The wax has worked very well and has burnt away cleanly. Every detail is visible, including my finger nail prints in the wax and a small piece of thread that was used to tie the wax lengths together.

Work can now begin on a full size sculpture using the new wax, can’t wait to start.

The red wax experiments have been delivered to Pangolin were they are being put through the lost wax process to see how the new wax reacts.

This is the first picture of the bronze versions, you can see they are still attached to the sprue’s. The next step is to remove the sprue and clean them up.

This wax experiment is using a polystyrene ball as a former. A corn dollie weave has been used to create a half sphere.

Lengths of 3mm wax woven using a corn dollie weave

New wax experiments

The first experiments with this new wax have been fantastic, not only is it super flexible, but it can be worked cold which is a great benefit. The time and energy the wax uses when it needs to be worked hot is quite considerable, as each individual length of wax need heating, weaving and  holding in place until it cools.

I have a number of completed experiments woven in the new red wax, so the next stage is to see how the wax reacts to the lost wax technique. I am told by the bronze foundry, that not all waxes burn cleanly from the mould, and can leave a residue that may ruin the final bronze casting. 

So the final stage is to put the new wax to the test and send it away to be cast into bronze and see how it holds up.