Hands Sculpture

Artist Statement

For this piece, I was really inspired by the near perfect model of hand and the stark white color of the plaster. My first thought was to keep them in perfect condition and make them look the most life-like, however to juxtapose this I wanted to somehow alter the perfection and almost create a feeling of uncomfort, like something is off when you look at it. I was able to really push this idea through when two of my fingers broke off in the process of removing the alginate mold. This unexpected obstacle ended up inspiring me to carve all of the holes, starting with the ones where the fingers broke off, and I started to form this idea of what actually is inside such a perfect looking thing. Further going off of this idea, I started thinking of how to not only subtract from my sculpture but also add to it. I wanted to create a melting effect, as though the insides of the hand were sort of flowing out. In hopes to emphasize my idea I wanted the 'melting' to be mostly white, yet with a bit of marbling effect to create some contrast, since I figured this would unify the two elements of the plaster hand and the polymer clay.

This piece was really exciting to make since I had never used alginate nor plaster before, and the whole process of mixing the mold, filling it, and then having a replica of my hand was very interesting. I wasn't entirely sure of how I wanted to position my hands so I somewhat randomly set them into the alginate and waited to see what came out of it. After the plaster was out of the mold it was quite clammy since it hadn't dried out yet, and although it was a bit difficult to handle since I was afraid of breaking off more fingers, the dampness of the plaster actually allowed me to carve into the surface more easily. I ended up using several clay sgraffito tools to carve away the hole and without destroying the surface too much, I used some fine sandpaper to smooth of edges and clumps. The plaster produced quite a bit of dust as I carved all of the holes, and I noticed what helped me was to use a fine tipped paintbrush dipped in water since that clumped the dust and made it easier to remove. I struggled quite a bit with the melting part of my sculpture, and although it is not exactly how I imagined I am still happy with how I was able to experiment with a new material. Originally, I wanted to use resin to create a clear blue mass that fit perfectly into the holes I carved, like it was coming directly out of them. However, this wasn't exactly a fool proof idea and it would have required me to make another mold that I did not have the time for. I initially chose to use some Sculpey since it was much quicker and easier to handle. I somewhat randomly mixed some cream white and white to create a marbling effect and squished it against my palm to get a base that would sit flush against the plaster hand. My hope was that after baking it I would be able to carve and sand the Sculpey to get a smooth surface, however this proved a bit more difficult than I expected. I used a stencil knife and some sandpaper, which worked well since the blade was so sharp the clay didn't break and the sandpaper got rid of any marks left by the blade. Finally, to make the marbling effect stand out, I used a clear top coat to finish it off.

At the beginning of this project I didn't have much of an idea of what I wanted to do, however then I remembered an artist whose sculptures really inspired me. The Canadian sculptor David Altmejd creates these really freaky, almost surreal, life like sculptures, which made me want to also alter my perfect hand to something that makes the viewer somewhat uncomfortable. I didn't plan or sketch much from there on out, I just began carving holes in some uniformity. Once I had the holes carved in, the rest of my ideas just evolved on their own. The dripping effect did require some experimentation and revision since I was so unsure of what material would create the desired effect. The actual process to create this piece was also very experimental as I tried several processes and techniques that were new to me, starting off with the alginate mold making to create the plaster replica of my hand.