Hands Sculpture

My inspiration behind this sculpture was the idea of a pair of hands holding a bouquet of flowers, but this was never super concrete and my end product was simply the result of having fun and doing what I found relaxing. 

The most demanding part of his project was creating the hands using alginate and plaster. The alginate was mixed with water and acted as a mold for our hands. Afterwards, plaster was poured into the hand-shaped space left in the alginate. It took me four tries to get the texture of the alginate right, and I also had the help of a couple classmates. Despite the initial frustration and false starts, I am very pleased with the final plaster sculpture, as the details of my hands were captured remarkably well. The final details were made with copper wire, used matches, and old hydrangea blossoms. 

All in all, the process moved along quickly after the initial frustration of making the mold. The final details were supposed to make the sculpture more personal, and I chose materials that were reminiscent of my relief. I am especially happy with the contrast of the plaster against the more natural plant materials.