Working with Cement

The past few weeks have been trying times for this gal. I've been working on my latest piece; confined. This has proven to be more difficult than originally planned but anything worth having typically is. 

We begin with an oblong steel sphere from last semester and vow to reinstate it to its glory. Thats what the plan is anyway. 

How to go about the next stage? Conceptually, I planned to evoke the feeling of confined space. We've all felt it, some of us may be feeling that way right now. Ok. So how do we show this?  Lets put a body in the sphere. Got it. Bending metal is no easy feat, in fact It took an entire day to bend the frame that would take the shape of the head, shoulders and feet. 

Measuring is another daunting task as there are so many factors involved e.g., the thickness of the metal saw, grinding down metal after the fact, balancing the sculpture to avoid slight angles that may throw you off by eighths of a fraction, and lastly the heat from the weld itself. Phew!

The most tedious part of the entire sculpture has to be the frame wiring. I have the cuts on my fingers to prove it. 

-overhead view-

The best part of the sculpture for me is right around the corner, finally an area in which to apply my cake skills...the application of cement and plaster!

Here is a full body pic... gotta love those gaucho pants. 

As I continue to add the cement, I notice my little guy is missing arms(something I'll have to tackle after he is completely covered in cement. 

almost completely covered in cement

Nearly there... another thing to note is that, I will be adding an additional ring over the top of the sphere, in an effort to create a more confined feeling. 

I can see it all taking shape now. Thanks for listening. 

Bon nuit 

**Currently on display** :)