Plaster Hands

Third Eye Incense Holder

Plaster and beeswax

the main idea of the piece was to show the third eye on a spiritual item; an incense holder. For this assignment, we were instructed to make plaster hands and then add 3D elements to them. I choose to use a blue color and show the eye by adding elements and carving away elements. I used different colors to show what colors are typically used. In the art, gold spots are growing in a blue surrounding, almost as if the gold is flaking off into the eye. The third eye is meant to 'open' and show you spiritual things you cannot see with your two eyes.

For the hands, I used alginate and plaster. I made a diluted blue wash with watercolor to cover the entire hand. I experimented by using wax for the triangle part and the lines around the eye. I really liked working with it, I liked that you could melt it and manipulate it if you made a mistake. I actually used gold nail polish to make dots and a gold sharpie. I used a needle tool to scrape out the eye.

We first mixed the alginate with water and then put our hands in it for a mold, but everyone in the class ahead of us made the same position with their hands, so I did as well. I then thought of carving a third eye, and did some research. I also decided then to make an incense holder and began carving out a hole. I drew a sketch and the next day made the triangle and lines with wax, and at home, I decided to paint the whole hand light blue. I put a small amount of watercolor in a water glass and washed it over the whole hand. I then carved the eye out of the beeswax, and then I tried to find something gold to paint some dots and the lines with. The only thing I could find at home was gold nail polish, which worked great except it was a tad too light for me. When I got back to class I used a Gold Sharpie and ended up coloring in one of the carved eyes as well as going over the lines and dots. After this, I made a clay ashtray to pick up the ash from the incense. it was pretty rushed, but I like it.