Having gathered many sources of inspiration and made test pieces I decided to try to construct a large scale sculpture inspired by Cairns. I wanted to make a sculpture which would have presence and the appearance of weight which rock possess. This piece was made to just be a prototype which could be made even bigger.
I made this in various stages using various materials in order to construct a form and then a hard shell, before making finishing coat. I selected materials, which I hoped would act in a similar way to the polystyrene, clay, and iron paste I made for my smaller sculptures.
I began by making a structure out of chicken wire. This material was suitable as it is easy to manipulate it and shape it into forms, like the clay. I therefore made the basis for each of the 'stones'. At this stage each shape was individual so that I could balance them in a cairn structure before attaching them together because I wanted to ensure that they were correct as to how they would really be balanced. Once I had the form I then used more wire to attach them together and put a stone into the bottom to act as a weight for when it becomes heavier.
The next step I needed to cover the wire to create a hard shell, which the mod rock and plaster, could be layered onto so I used kitchen towels and PVA for this. Whilst I was doing this, I found the aesthetic that was created by the hexagon shapes in wire protruding through the paper interesting. I also liked how it was translucent and delicate therefore I will return to experimenting with this on its own.
Once I had covered the whole structure with tissue and glue I used a layer of mod rock and then a thick mix of plaster over the top to create a textured and hard surface. At this stage the form had began to distort under pressure. I felt this was because I had needed to attach the individual shapes and therefore felt it had begun to take away from the balanced aesthetic that Cairns have. It was around here where I began to feel that this was becoming a failed experiment and taking on different connotations than I had began with. I felt that the white surface was very plain and appeared unfinished and therefore I wanted to try to recreate a similar finish to that which I had achieved with the iron paste.
I tried using black paint and then a dark silver spray paint thinly over the top to try to emphasise edges like the iron past had. I then found a metallic paint which when I used on a test section of the sculpture I felt highlighted the textures in plaster to appear similar to a rocky texture.
I then covered the structure in the black finish. However I was unsatisfied, as it appeared harsh and ugly. However I felt that this wasn't a completely failed experiment because though it was not pleasing visually and the off-centre stance and dark colour had made it become unnerving it could not be ignored and it bothered me. Therefore I will expand on it more in my next posts and experiment with it further.