Day 2 - 30 Day Artist

Good morning - Selamat Pagi (Malay) - Sawadee Ka (Thai),

I thought I'd post some pics of the glass casting process so you can get an idea of what's involved in creating cast glass art. I finished off these pieces today but it took me over a week to create them. Basically the process involves:

1. Making a mould in a special plaster mix of the artwork to be cast.
2. Removing the artwork (made of modelling clay, wax or whatever)
3. Cleaning and cutting glass to fit in the mould to fill it. (More difficult than it looks to get enough glass in the mould)
4. Firing the glass in a kiln. This may have to be done twice if there's not enough glass and can take several days.
5. Annealing the glass - cooling it down very slowly to stop it breaking (This takes a long time too)
6. Removing the plaster mould. This includes labour intensive picking out plaster with dental tools.
7. Grinding and cutting off excess glass.
8. Engraving artists signature into the glass
9. Polishing the glass

The images here are of Gong Khao (Thai Rice Boxes) these are used to serve Khao Niao (sticky rice - "Pulut rice" in Malay). I've cast real sticky rice too. In Laos and Isaan (Esarn) North East Thailand, they eat this type of rice every day with Som dum (Green Papaya Salad) and Laab (Minced Meat Salad). These sculptures will be included in my exhibition "Rural Go Go" in February 2010 in Bangkok as my response to the three and a half months I spent in Isaan at Banpao Rural Art Centre (BRAC) as artist in residence late 2008 - early 2009.

To my Singapore friends, I would have loved to have met up with you but I was too busy creating these artworks. Hope to see you next time I'm in Singapore.

Time to get back to work.

Have a great day.

Mould Making for Lost Wax Bronze Casting in Bangkok, Thailand

 

I've just returned from Bangkok, Thailand where I was making a video documenting the process of mould making for lost wax bronze casting.

Frenchman Pierre Cerviotti, mould maker demonstrated the process by making a mould of Blake's latest sculpture. Pierre, has 19 years experience as a mould maker and continues to use moulding techniques that date back to ancient Greece. Basic mould making is taught at art schools around the world but not as comprehensively, or with the precision that Pierre employs. Canadian born Blake, has been working with Pierre for many years and his sculptures are found in galleries in Europe and the Americas. Of particular interest, is Blake's devotion to raising money to clear land mines. To date he has raised $200,000 USD from the sale of his Fragments sculpture series. It was in a chance meeting at Thavibu Gallery in Bangkok, that I first met Blake in February 2009.

A few days ago we met with bronze foundry manager Thai Parinya Senadisai, whom we were introduced to by Ajarn Sanya Wong-Aram from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. In the photo (from left to right) is Pierre Cerviotti, Blake Ward, Parinya Senadisai and Wendy Grace Allen

Below are some links about lost wax casting, and Blake's sculpture:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost-wax_casting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_(sculptor)
http://www.blakefragments.com/
http://www.blakesculpture.com/flash_site/index-flash.html.

The Earth's waters are both boundaries and pathways for peoples, objects and ideas.

Fumio Nanjo