Cierra_ ALL

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TO PULL

Update?

These are the updates to my bell. It has been cast, chased, and patinaed. I am now thinking about the pull part and the hanging bracket. I was wondering if I should paint the bracket so it doesn't feel so alien to the rest of the piece. The pull mechanism to ring the bell is made out of leather cord and wraps around the clapper, I was considering having a crystal as the part you grab. A crystal would also add extra weight and depending on the crystal continue the concept of being grounded. 

September 21,2022

September 17, 2022

Updates on the wax forms 

September 13, 2022 

I had an idea after our class discussion today and I made some sketches. I was thinking of doing the full figure as the bell rather than doing relief. 

In process photos

September 8, 2022

I have decided to go with the bell where the  figure is carved in relief. This form and concept resonates with me more than the other ideas especially considering the work I have made in the past. I started casting the mold for the bell form, Ill then be carving the figure onto the wax cast. 

September 3, 2022

For "to pull" I was considering doing a bell. My family has always had bells and windchimes around our houses. I never really questioned why but this item has always been something that made the house feel more like home. I do not currently live in a house but rather in a community apartment, so having the bell on my door allows me to know when someone is entering my room and my roommates like to jingle it rather than knock. The bell I currently have is small and doesn't really have an option to pull. This is something I would like to improve and make differently. 

After searching for decorative bells I found many ideas on Pinterest (unfortunately without an artist). The idea of the bell is a specific shape and the holder correlating with that shape is appealing to me. 

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I really enjoy the simplicity of design with this specific bell as well as the little knocker. 

These are the bells in my grandma's house, they were in the house when they bought it in 1960. These are the bells I assume started the tradition. 

Ideas: 

This one was my sketch to understand exactly how the bell works and plays with different forms. 

These are some of the figurative ideas that I wanted to throw out into the blog universe. I think that I'm more attracted to these ideas and the flower idea. The one with the figure in the bell, the same figure would wrap all the way around in relief form. This would be a similar idea for the face, it would also be in relief on the bell body. For the hand, it would be one hand holding the bell going up and slowly changing into roots. 

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TO HANG

November 30, 2022

These are some of the pictures of the painted house. It will be hung through the holes on the side of the roof. I decided against the plexiglass roof as I feel it will not allow the plant to grow. The next step is to either hand carve or laser etch the door from sketches of the original house door. Then planting is the step after, I was considering planting a Wandering dude or succulents. 

Still using the form of the house I have decided to take a different turn. I have been thinking about the way plants will take over after humans are gone in the future. This has brought me to question what will happen to my childhood home and all of the trauma experienced there. The memories and pain will be gone, replaced by plants. This brought me to the idea of a plant hanger in the shape of my childhood home. The house walls will be made of steel. The bottom will be a grated metal while the roof will be Plexi glass. The roof will also be hinged to take care of the plants. This is the same form as the original idea but rather than a windchime it will be a planter. 

Image of planter?

For my "to hang" piece I have had a few ideas brewing. The main part I would like to touch upon for this is the concept of lost memories. I want to convey the weight of these painful experiences through this piece. I came upon three ideas, two that really speak to this concept, and one that is more of a functional object. 

Alberto Giacometti's surface treatment of the metal is really inspiring. This work has opened my eyes up to the possibilities of texture and weight in my work. 

Naum Gabo's work is extraordinary, specifically in the abstraction of figures. I have been looking for ways to incorporate abstraction with my figures and really enjoy the way they fabricate their pieces. 

This piece is about a specific memory, and I think it would be very cathartic for me to make. This work is talking directly about lost memories and painful experiences that stay imprinted on a person forever. The face would be mine cast in wax with lace fabric covering it, then poured in cast iron. There would be areas where the cast iron comes out making it a sculpture to hang our items on. 

One Idea I came up with was windchimes. Like bells, my family has always had at least one windchime inside of our home. Still, in the vein of trauma and catharsis, I wanted to make replicas of all the different houses we lived in when I was growing up. I want to convey this instability and chaos in my work. The icon of the house is something we can all relate to. I think this would also sound really beautiful in cast iron. 

This last idea was more of a functional object I could use in my home, as plants are currently taking over my room. This piece would be fabricated in steel with paper colle over the leaf exteriors. This would be a very useful and beautiful addition to the elements in my home. 

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TO LIGHT

The whole lamp is made from steel, so I was considering doing something soft for the leaves of the ferns on top. I tried fiber leaves but they ended up looking different than expected. I am going to test some Okuara paper with ink washes to see how that looks against a warm bulb. I chose to use the form of a fern as it has been a recurring theme in my work, representing new life and new beginnings. This concept works well with the to light as light means hope. 

For my to light I have decided to use a cast of my face in iron. My intention is to mount it to a bracket that hangs on a wall. The face would have light coming from the back that would glow onto the wall. Along with this, I intend to create two smaller lights that hang on both sides of the face. These two smaller lights would be made with a steel armature and fiber-cast exterior. 

This idea is a bit more expected. I will be interested to see it with the fiber and what type of shadow it may cast.

 

I do love this design. It should be made.

For my "to light" piece I really want to capture what light can feel like and the memories that it can bring on. I'm still working in the vein of trauma but taking a different approach to some of my ideas. I really enjoy the way that light changes with whatever it is placed in. With this in mind, I think cast fiber or paper is something that would push the narrative. 

Kendal Buster makes work that catches and holds light within the form. This work has such a volume and weight, I truly want to climb inside. However, just imagine if there were a light on the inside, I think it would amplify that space. 

Zadok Ben David's pieces are something I have always been awed by. I love the intricate details and the way they use multiple forms to make a whole. I can only imagine the beauty of the shadows created by this work. 

Antony Gormley is someone who I have been really looking at for this project. I love the variety of different shapes to make one figure. I think this might be something I implement for my project. 

My first idea was to make a house, similar to one of my childhood homes. I was considering making the doors all open, "the lights are on but no one's home" is a good summary of my experience.  The doors would be detailed to cast shadows. 

I really enjoy the form of this idea. It would be variations of the same person in different motions, falling down and getting back up. This would be overlapping in steel with cast paper in the negative spaces. I think the figures would show some pretty amazing shadows. I also think the ball form calls for the viewer to look at every angle of the work and understand what is happening. 

This idea feels more in line with my recent work, however, I intend to abstract the form to allow more light to the whole through. I think the form would probably change if I went with this idea however I feel as if the other ones are a little more realized. I was also considering doing a repetition of forms to make a whole like in Antony Gormley's work.