3-D Materials and Concepts Spring 2016: May 2016

Happenings

I have always been fascinated by mythological creatures, especially fairies. So I decided to create a pair of wings that moved or fluttered. I fashioned the wings using wire coat hangers, copper jewelry wire, and iridescent cellophane. To disguise the coat hanger, I piped on hot glue and painted it with gold acrylic paint. Since I am not mechanically inclined, I wanted to use a ready-made mechanism to make my wings move. During a trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond, I noticed a salad spinner with a pull-string and I thought "THAT'S IT!". I affixed the wings and a harness to the spinner using hot glue. To complete my look, I crafted a tutu and gold leaf crown.

Memento

The memory I decided to base my memento on is one from 3 years ago. The weekend after our senior prom, my friends and I went to Wildwood, NJ, a beach town with a boardwalk full of amusements and food stalls. During our trip, we bought matching hoodies, drank fresh squeezed lemonade and ate fries from Curley's, and walked on the beach in the rain.

The three materials I chose to work with were:

Jewelry Resin (to represent the plastic lemonade cups)
Beach Sand (to represent the beach)
Hot pink fleece (to represent the hoodies)

After pouring in a small amount of resin, I added the beach sand before pouring the remaining resin into my mold (in this case, a medicine measuring cup)

While the resin cured, I covered my mold with a colander to prevent any insects or debris from getting trapped in it.

Soap Carving

This was the project that tested my patience and perseverance. I have very limited experience using subtractive methods of sculpting, so I chose to carve a hippo, an animal that has stocky features. I named her Jessica, after a story I had read about a family in South Africa that has a hippo as a pet. I began by carving the main body, opting to add the legs later, which I thought would be easier than it actually was.

Architecture Relief

For my architecture relief, I drew inspiration from a few of my favorite architectural styles, including:

Mid-Century Modern

Source: The Original EPCOT

Source: Gorillas Don't Blog

Rococo

Source: The Wolverhampton Archives

and Traditional Japanese

Source: Flickr user Eliyas J

I began by sketching out a few ideas for how to incorporate these styles in a cohesive way.

Preliminary Sketch:

Revised Sketch:

In order to create the Japanese-inspired stone base, I affixed balls of masking tape to two pieces of foam board and covered them with more masking tape.

To make the masking tape look more like stone, I mixed together white gesso and black india ink to create a medium grey.

The second layer was constructed using black and white foam board, black masking tape, and tracing paper.

The Rococo details on the third layer were created by applying thin layers of wood glue to a plastic mold. Once dry, the pieces were carefully peeled from the mold, glued to pieces of foam board, and painted an opalescent white.

The finished product:

Overall, I was pleased with the final result. I enjoyed finding innovative ways to use the assigned materials, and I think I came pretty close to replicating what I had envisioned.

Masking Tape Shoes

The first project I completed this semester was the construction of a pair of shoes using only masking tape. In order to better understand the construction of a pair of shoes, I decided to purchase and deconstruct a cheap pair of canvas shoes. This was much easier said than done, as the deconstruction process led to more than a few cuts and scratches. I was pleased with the end result, and if I am ever stranded on a deserted island with nothing but duct tape, I will at least know how to make a pair of shoes to protect my feet.