Plaster Hand Sculpture

Artist Statement:

The subject of my creation are my hands holding the earth. In the earth I also represented a paper plane that is a metaphor for traveling. In order to make the hands we created a stamp made of alginate and we later added the plaster in it. After waiting about two hours I took the hand out of the alginate stamp and I let them dry completely. Once the sculpture was dry, I scraped it, in order to eliminate all the small imperfections. When the hands were ready and smooth, I painted them and I let them dry once again. To make the earth, I first of all made a structure of aluminum foil and I after covered it with "Sculpey" and I created the land. I then made a wire structure for the paper plane and I covered it with "Sculpey". Once they were both done I cooked them in the oven and I covered them with two coats of glass coating. The final result was reached just by putting everything together with wire and hot glue. The reason why I decided to create this specific artwork is because I really love traveling.

The composition shows the technique of using "Sculpey" and the using alginate and plaster. During the creation of my sculpture, I revisited the disposition of the earth on the hands; at first I wanted to put the planet inside my hands but during the project I found out that the hands did not match with each other so I decided to change the original project and dispose the earth while the hands were standing on the table.

The meaning of the whole artwork is oriented towards the idea of traveling and discovering the world. What I tried to express through my art is the concept of freedom around the world and the beauty of wandering. The project is related to my life because I am currently traveling, I am currently far from home, discovering myself and the world; meeting new friends and living life changing experiences.