Charmed Earth - Introduction
In 2010 I produced 100 small sculptures in clay, which I cast in coloured polyurethane. The project began with my children and me making plasticine forms together. For me, the production of the work in clay was closely related to drawing, as I generally had no preconception of what the subject would be before allowing my hands to ‘do the thinking’.
Works would accumulate on bench tops until a time when they were either squashed and transformed, or cast into a hardened state. The juxtaposition of various shapes and forms would sometimes inspire new ideas, as if the chaos of the disorganised work surface was a physical manifestation of whatever was on my mind.
I made many of the moulds in two stages. I first created a rough silicone mould to convert the original clay model into a hard object, which I reworked to obtain a more desirable surface. I then constructed more complex two- or three-part silicone box-moulds around the object.
I generally used this second-stage mould for the finished object, although I made some sculptures with multiple parts from multiple moulds. This aspect of the process was expensive and labour intensive, yet enjoyable in developing a sense of anticipation.
Having had no previous experience with these materials, I left the entire process open to experimentation. I enjoy the unruliness of new materials and the incorporation of haphazard outcomes into new ideas. The liberating aspect of working rapidly in this medium is ‘being too busy to think’, allowing process to carry me along on its own momentum.
Working in this way will continue to fuel my development of imagery in other areas. The sculpted works were intended to be displayed alongside other two-dimensional works on a wall, so that many small shelves were constructed to support them.
The majority of the sculptures that were produced for Charmed Earth can be viewed by clicking on the links below. About one-third of the sculptures are displayed in each part, and you can continue on to the following part by clicking on the link at the end.
The works are reproduced individually, and either displayed that way or in groups across the page. Where several works are presented together, the titles are listed in order from left to right across each row. Dimensions are not included, but the largest work is approximately 30cm high.
Explore this theme
1. Introduction (You Are Here)