Appendage No. 1
Clay portrait study of Grace for Anagram Series 2021Edition 1 of 10
Hand cast & finished in pigmented Jesmonite
250 x 250 x 250mm
Accompanied by a numbered and signed certificate
About the Edition
As with all my upcoming 'Appendages', No.1 derives from a larger work which, in this instance, is the Anagram Series I made over lockdown whilst sequestered with my daughter Dot, partner Grace and mum Pip.
Having become increasingly reliant on digital means (ie. 3D scanners, printers, CNC prototypers etc.) I decided to try and fathom the traditional analogue technique of clay modelling, partly as a way of biding my time and connecting with my fellow inmates, but also in a bid to try and find out whether the hand instills more spirit or charge than the scanner or printer?
A year’s modelling later I'm still on the fence - the machine's certainly way quicker and boasts impartiality but it does of course only capture a millisecond and not the 8 months of changing expression and mood each portrait took me to resolve. The other problem with analogue of course is style, particularly in our hyper self-conscious era where too much detail becomes deco or kitsch or too much expression egotistic and embarrassing...so I ended up with a kind of uptight impersonal neutrality anyway!
Bottom line is that figurative sculpture's a minefield and so rarely engaging and I think the solution probably lies in using a combination of digital and analogue means combined...or at least a mechanical eye as so many of us have had to hone!
So yes, this Appendage No.1 is one of the earlier analogue studies of my partner Grace and is hand-cast in pigmented Jesmonite (a kind of go-to nowadays as it has the nice semi-sheen of plaster but the strength and durability of resin...and above all is water-based and therefore kinder to us all). I've made 10 copies and each is accompanied by a numbered and signed certificate.
About Costing
I want to be really up front about pricing - to some this might be off-puttingly cheap and to most it’s way too much I know. My rationale is that I want to recoup the £200 each copy costs me to make and use the remaining £150 to hire someone for a day to help me with the woodland project I mention in other posts.