Foam and Plaster Sculpture

 Foam and Plaster Sculpture

Lindsey Murray

        The concepts that I drew out for my foam sculpture began with a very different look than the one that it ended up with. The original sketches looked like they could be the base for a modern lamp. They looked very organic and droopy, with so much negative space that they seemed to defy gravity. I knew in the moment of sketching, however, that the final result might look nothing like my sketches. That being said, I decided the process with the general shape in mind, and knowing that I wanted to focus on organic shapes. This sculpture became something I am satisfied with, though it differs  from my original sketches. I used intuitive decision-making as the process unfolded, and I now have a better understanding of the materials. I think that, in general, it is a good thing to be able to create the art in your sketches, especially when creating for someone else. However, there is also are in changing your ideas in the moment that I tend to lean on and find comfort in. As for what this might be communicating to a non-artist audience, I think it might bring curiosity as to what it is- it looks reminiscent of rocks or waves in nature because of its organic and sharp shapes, but its intent was to be intuitive in the process of making it, rather than communicating a worldly object.

 As for the process, I began by cutting my squares of foam into quarters and then stacking them, with glue in between each layer and dowels through the stack vertically. I let this dry, marked out where I wanted to subtract with a crayola marker, then headed outside to melt away larger chunks of the foam. I applied two layers of the white plaster. I realized that some of the crayola marker ink on the foam bled through those two layers of plaster, so I decided to use that method more heavily. On my dried second layer of plaster, I drew on the sculpture with purple, pink, and blue markers. This bled through my third layer of purple plaster, which I dyed with purple ink. Lastly, I sanded the piece with metal files and other found objects, making sure that some of the marks were visible. As I filed, some of the white plaster became visible again. 











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