Mouldmaking Impressions

Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun. The previous week was extremely busy with the main focus on mould making. Last week, I decided to take some photos of two different moulding projects. The first two images are of an over life sized portrait bust by the artist Gino Cavicchioli and then the next images are of the moulds being produced for the artist Donald Liardi.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

The above photos illustrate an early stage of the process. The silicone rubber is painted on in layers until it's roughly a centimetre thick.  Then the mould is later divided into halves with a rigid jacket built on the outside of the rubber to provide support as well as completing the mould.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

These last two pictures are of silicone moulds" being constructed over two D. Liardi sculptures .  The moulding method being used here is referred to as a "pour mould". The large hole in the jacket is where the rubber is poured in and the smaller holes act as vents. Both  methods are used extensively because all sculptures present different challenges so one specific method can't be used for all circumstances

Later this week, I'm hoping to have the moulding prep ready for #3(Banner Boy) and further updates on #5.
Have a great week.

Ecorche Bronze Sculpture Part 2

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

 This post ,I'm showing  another ecorche' bronze figure,this time a male version.  For those who are not familiar with the genre,ecorche'( flayed human) depictions were extremely popular in the 18th and 19th centuries and many versions exist both in 2D and 3D. Despite their original didactic intent they later came to be appreciated as works of art in their own right.
The bronze presented in this post was originally modeled in wax in 2002. I had never before attempted an ecorche' figure and thought it might be a good technical exercise. I had sculpted figures for years but never felt the need or interest before in doing this type of model making. But around January 2002, I started playing  with the idea because it was something I'd never attempted before and it was a new challenge.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

I started  working out the pose and then proceeded to look for as much information on the subject as possible. I looked at various books on anatomy both medical as well as artistic and examined several medical models too. Finally, I made an arrangement to visit Grant's Museum (display of human anatomical specimens) at the University of Toronto to complete my research. The whole sculpting process including the research took over two years. The bronze cast was later produced in 2006 and exhibited in 2007 at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition.
Next post ,I'm hoping to have some updates on current projects in the studio.  Till then have a great weekend.

Making Changes to Hyper Realistic Bust #5

Over the past several weeks, I've been working on #5.  As I've been working on other projects ,it's given me an opportunity to reflect on this particular model. One of the issues regarding this entire project is the speculated ages of all the individuals . Actually, one of the difficulties in forensic science is the determination of an age for human remains. Not surprisingly, children's remains are easier to age because of the various age determining characteristics found in a developing skeleton.
Anyways, I decided to make #5 a bit younger because after looking at all the images of the skull, it made more sense for me to make him a little younger.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

In the last image you can see the changes from the previous post of #5. The skin on the neck and cheeks is noticeably looser on the last photo than the newest pictures. Again, this is a back forth process and it's still a time for further experimentation and reflection.
I'll be back later this week,talk to you then.

Terra Cotta and Homo Erectus

I'm a little behind in my projects in the studio at the moment. I was hoping to have #5 further along but it's been so busy in the studio that there hasn't been time to advance it much. I also mentioned that I was moulding #3,that has been delayed till next week.
In the meantime,I wanted to show a terracotta sculpture that was created back in 2008. This piece was inspired by a cast of a Homo Erectus skull from China. The original reconstruction was done by Dr.Franz Weidenreich and Lucille Swan in the early 1940's. The original fossils were lost during the invasion of China by Japan during World War 2 but Weidenreich was able to produce excellent moulds and casts of the originals and they were sent to USA prior to hostilities and are housed in the collection of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

The faces on pre-modern humans are compelling for me because of the unusual facial proportions.  Archaic people as a group tend to have over sized faces relative to the size of their cranium.  This feature plus the extraordinary length of the cranium gives the appearance of being flat headed yet the height of the cranium itself often overlaps the modern range. Although, this sculpture like others that touch this subject is a speculation,it does point out how amazing and at times mysterious the whole process of hominid development.

Next time, I will have news on #5, till then have a great weekend.

Bronze Baby

Back again with more images of  my bronze sculpture series. The subject matter of today's post is a baby born. It was modeled in clay in 2004 and cast in bronze, 2005. It was part of a series of sculptures dealing with facial expressions,partly inspired by the eighteenth century sculptor Xavier Messerschmidt physio-gnomic head studies. I thought it would be fascinating to explore the very moment of birth. The face is a composite based upon images of my own children at that crucial moment.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art Di Lella

I find newborns strange almost alien like when first appear. Their heads partly distorted by the bumpy ride to being born. But I find the whole birthing process incredibly beautiful  as well as strangely humourous.
This sculpture was first exhibited at Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition and in a group show at Hangman gallery(Toronto) back in 2007.
Next post, I hope to have some new updates on #5 and moulding #3.
Have a great week.

Ecorche Bronze Sculpture

I thought this was a good time to introduce some of the sculptures that have been done in bronze. All the bronze's predate the blog's inception. So over next few weeks, I'll be introducing the bronze part of my portfolio and it will be made into it's own separate page.
The first sculpture to be shown in this series will be an ecorche'  female figure. This sculpture was first modeled in wax in 2005 and the bronze cast was later produced in 2006. This particular figure was part of a group of bronze figures that was exhibited at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition  in 2007.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

image copyright  Art  Di Lella

My interest in anatomy as well as didactic models provided the inspiration for this sculpture including it's other mates. From 2002-2009, most of my work focused on anatomy with ironic content which is still an active part of my present practice.
As mentioned, I'll be posting more bronze images as well as upcoming posts on #5 and the moulding of another hyper realistic bust#3(banner boy).
Till then, have a great weekend.

Peruvian Porcelain Part #3

 Hi again.

Recently, I've completed the modeling of my third attempt at porcelain. Here are the final images of the finished but unfired Peruvian Porcelain..

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Another week of drying will be necessary before it can be fired. In the meantime, I've been working on #5 and I'm about to start on a new figure as well.  More abut that later. Later this week, I will be showing some examples of  earlier work specifically bronzes that will eventually have their own page(s). Till then, have a great week.

Hyper Realistic Reconstructed Sculpture Part #8

On Monday of this week, I returned to working on #5. The focus for the moment is adding texture to the skin.
I've been experimenting with different tooling methods in order for each individual model to have a unique quality to their skin. These past few days, I've been concentrating  on the left side of the face as well as the entire neck  It's a back and forth process with numerous revisions so even though these images give the appearance of completeness,it's actually an early stage of development.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

While working, I'm continuing to think about the overall project design and what the next move should be. I really enjoy the process and find the end results somewhat anticlimactic even though I recognize the need to finish things. I'm satisfied for the moment, the results of OM and OW but they're essentially finished and for me interest in them won't come back until all the characters are being assembled together.
Next time, I hope there will be some updates on #5 as well as another older piece.

New Pages for the Blog

Since I began this blog on March the first of this year over forty posts have been published. But in that time, I wanted to organize the website better and include not only works that have been shown on the blog but also projects that predate it as well. Here, is a small sample of the images that have been added to the newest pages.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

The picture above is from new page called  Works in Progress. This page will be updated when  the status of any piece changes.There will be new pieces added and the others that are completed will be put into the Gallery Page. Here are a couple of examples of sculptures from that section(below).

Image  copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Again, I will update these pages plus I will be constructing another Gallery page that will have images of older works including commissions.
In the meantime, the regular posting will continue and I'll have some updated info on #5 later this week.
Till then, have a great week.