I have been doing paster experiments on a small scale. I wanted to try on a bigger surface. I had a long piece of cardboard. I did the same swirl technique as my small A4 experiments. After creating this, I thought it reminded me of seafoam or the way the water moved.
Although this was a bigger experiment, I found that plaster made the cardboard heavy. Therefore, it couldn't support itself to stand. I didn't know how to improve this further, so I moved on to another plaster experiment but kept it.
Sculpture Experiment
I tried to manipulate the shape further by adding contrasting straight lines to a very curvy shape. I didn't shape it further as I didn't think it fit into the idea of nature. I feel that anything natural is something feminine and soft. There is barely anything geometric following water flows down a stream or leaves dancing in the wind. Some can argue that rock formations have ridgelines, but those lines form naturally over time.
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I decided to move on to a different sculpture because I didn't know how else I could further improve this sculpture. I like it as it is. Sadly I cannot make it a permanent sculpture because if baked in the knil, the metal wires would make the sculpture explode. Therefore I will document it and let it dry out over time.
Plaster on wood Experiment
I moved on to adding plaster to wood. Plaster needs a firm surface to harden, then having it stand as plaster makes it heavier. I found this out through my cardboard experiment.
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My idea was to create a textured surface using the plaster and then watering down acrylic paint and letting it drip down.
I need to create a blank white base before adding the colourful paint.
I used a wooden board that someone threw away. Before adding any colour, I painted any coloured left from the previous work with white acrylic paint.
Paint pouring
The quickest way to add colour to any piece is by painting. Similar to the first plaster on paint experiment. For this experiment, I wanted to try out something new. Instead of painting the plaster with my fingers, I watered down the acrylic paint and poured it down the piece. I let gravity do the work for me.
I like the effect it gives by doing this method, and it is a great way to show movement within the piece and its ridged texture. We can see from the paint which one has moved the fastest and finished at the end, similar to a raindrop falling from a window—giving the piece a flow.
I wanted to add another colour that I knew would complement the first colour.
I should have added more water to the second colour, and I felt that the blue was lost through the red. I preferred the experiment before I added the second colour.
I took a picture of the end 'mess' when finishing the outcome. The pool of watered acrylics reminds me of Lynda Benglis Contraband (1969), where she used pigmented latex to create seemingly a running liquid of colour.
Of course, the difference with my outcome is that it is a pool of colour.
It was interesting to see an outcome come out of the pouring of the colour, and I didn't notice until I stepped back and saw the swirls of colour running on the floor. The natural blending of the colours came from the gravity of pouring from the plaster piece.
The mixing and swirl of colour inspired me to do the next set of experiments.
Acrylic Painting experiments
From the swirls of the paint poured from my last experiment. I was inspired to create a piece involving colour and the blending of colours. I painted on an A5 canvas.
I first picked out colours that complement each other. I got a flat brush and dipped half of the brush with two different colours. I created very fluid and circular strokes with the brush overlapping the paint and switching colour combinations. Lastly, I made another layer using a small flat brush with only one colour, which created the dimension in the painting.
Polystyrene Sculpture base
I wanted to experiment with making bigger and taller sculptures, and I thought the most straightforward way was to create a tall structure with light material. A tutor suggested that I try polystyrene, and I collected some polystyrene and played around with composition and shape. This is the final shape that I wanted to work with. I used a mixture of double-sided tape and nails to keep the form together. To create a solid structure, I plan to cover the polystyrene with plaster.