Sculpture

2023: Precarious times

Posted by admin

This is the third major project for my Studio 2 course, as part of the Master of Fine Art program. This large scale, mixed-media installation exemplified the use of a conceptual framework and iterative installations to progressively develop work, and through the process suggest regenerative possibilities.

It was designed to warn of the accelerating impact of climate change while signalling the redemptive possibilities of nature. The final installation evolved from an earlier Studio 2 animation in which tumbling shapes suggested the use of a vertical flip book to convey time and motion in two dimensions. 

The concept was framed along cartography, calligraphy and oceanography lines, as exploratory prompts. This framework underpinned the project’s expansion over experimental installations as I effectively terraformed the Gossard space (coincidently a technique suggested by Donna Haraway as a way to rejuvenate our vulnerable planet, in her book Staying with the trouble : making kin in the Chthulucene). 

Photograph by Elizabeth Cole of final installation of Precarious times, view 1 on 12 October 2023. Acrylic on 250 and 640 gsm paper, sizes variable. Wood painted white and portable white projector. 2023.

Photograph by Elizabeth Cole of final installation of Precarious times, view 2 on 12 October 2023. Acrylic on 640 gsm paper, sizes variable, shapes made from plaster, wax, wood. 2023.
Photograph by Elizabeth Cole of final installation of Precarious times, view 3 on 12 October 2023.
Acrylic on 640 gsm paper, 56 x 76 cm, Shapes made from plaster, wax, wood. 2023.

2023: Carbonised

Posted by admin

This is another project for Studio 2, as part of my Master of Fine Art program. It consisted of a mournful, site-specific installation of charred cuttlebones, showing how a selected location informed a body of work. While continuing to memorialise endangered sea-life through cuttlebones, for this site specific project I entered the shadowy realm of museum storage the mausoleum of colonial trophies and taxidermy. Based on a dilapidated plan drawer this installation consisted of eight cuttlebones surrounded by pictorial labels, tags and flip books made from relief prints. The relief prints featured the contour lines of the cuttlebone.

This project was intended to create a mournful affect, with the charred cuttlebones symbolising the extreme consequence of global warming.

Photograph by Elizabeth Cole of Carbonised installation, close up of eight casts and tags, 2023. Casts made from high compression gypsum, painted with acrylic, with twine and tags from 250 gsm paper. Cast sizes variable, approx. 24 x 9 x 3.5 cm. 2023.
Photograph by Elizabeth Cole of revised configuration of the Carbonised installation, for a meeting with my supervisor, 2023.

 

2023: Entombed in plain sight

Posted by admin

This is a project for my Master of Fine Art Studio 2 course. It consisted of an installation of bound cuttlebones, demonstrating innovation to transform an unsuccessful experiment into a beacon of hope. As shown in the image below this work features plaster-bound cuttlebones floating in space and time, trapped for eternity in acrylic trophy boxes. The work traverses a regenerative arc, first repurposed as a memorial to extinction and then evolving into a post-human life-form.

The use of green wax to coat the cuttlebones is symbolic. While originally a technical necessity for casting (green wax being the only colour available), the colour suggests chlorophyll and in turn photosynthesis, nature’s non-destructive way of converting light into energy.

Hence while intended to memorialise sea-life, colour and composition opened up the narrative possibility of an absurdist form of post-human life, and concurrently, the redemptive possibilities of solar energy. The intended affect was thus amusement, and hope at the transformative possibilities of recycling.

Photograph by Elizabeth Cole of plaster-bound cuttlebones in acrylic boxes on legs. Materials: cuttlebones, wax, plaster bandages, acrylic and metal. Dimensions: boxes 32 wide x 23 deep x 20 cm high, legs 38 cm wide x 45 cm high. Dimension per assembly approx. 34 cm wide and 65 cm high. Level 3 Building 49, RMIT 2023.
Photograph by Elizabeth Cole of plaster-bound cuttlebones in acrylic boxes, mounted on legs in the corridor, mobilised for flight. Level 3 Building 49 RMIT. 2023.

Stalagmites and stalactites_from start to finish

Posted by admin

Inspired by the memory (and a photo) of a childhood family trip to the Jenolan caves, I recreated the experience using armature wire, plaster, encaustic wax and a cool dripping water soundtrack.

Installation work with red crate, rope and a spillage of shoe lasts – inspired by Nancy Rubins

Posted by admin

Inspired by the great American sculpture Nancy Rubins, I recently installed a work comprised of a red milk crate, rope, blue tarp and a tumbling array of shoe lasts. I also used a new favourite (an overhead projector) to project an image of the installation taken at its ‘inspiration’ location (a now semi demolished car port that we used the crate and rope to haul found objects (including the shoe lasts) out of the loft space).

 

22 aug installation 1 22 aug installation 5 22 aug installation 7

Found object based works

Posted by admin

A recent project involved using a found object as the basis for a work or series of works. I selected a disposable plastic tea spoon from a domestic flight. Interestingly, the NGV features an ivory spoon of a similar shape in its Egyptian collection. Below are images of the Egyptian spoon (photos and a drawing), the sculpture I made from the contemporary spoon/s (inspired by Joseph Cornell and his shadow boxes) and three sets of monotypes (original and ghost print) based on the sculpture and other found objects.

Xu Bing at the Cathedral

Posted by admin

Sublime exhibition of 2 majestic phoenixes soaring through the cathedral. Ming Dynasty meets industrial waste by Xu Bing – http://www.stjohndivine.org/programs/art/current-exhibitions

Finally.. the Flying Pig sculpture

Posted by admin

I have been working on a sculpture project for the last 4 months. The brief was to create a work incorporating flying pigs. The objects had to have the appearance of aged copper. My challenge was to do this using plaster.

I started by modelling flying pigs in plastercine. I selected one of the two models for casting in silicon. I managed to make the mold directly from the plasticine model, with the plasticine model surviving relatively undamaged.

I then made 8 plaster copies, selected a final set of 4, and worked up the final composition of 1) a stand alone pig and 2)3 pigs flying through the air, mounted on a board. The copper finish was achieved using a 2 part paint solution from St Lukes.

Photos of the various stages are shown below.

Sculpture project-Bamiyan Buddhas

Posted by admin

This work symbolises the destroyed Buddhas of Bamiyan. These statues had faced each other for hundreds of years in a valley in Afghanistan until they were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. This act of destruction shattered not just the physical forms, but also the aura of awe and the timeless serenity engendered by these weathered figures. In this work I try to represent the enduring relationship between the two statues.

The heads are made from a latex mold made from a metal Cambodian Buddha head. The fact that the work is made from plaster resonates with the construction of the Bamiyan Buddhas, where plaster coated ropes were used to create the effect of draped robes.  The objects have been painted with a sepia acrylic and varnished with a wood varnish.