The Sculpture Gallery

With computer-aided design and actual prototyping printers already available to the public, sculptors often wonder if the trend of technological manufacturing will catch up to them. Machines and programs are getting more and more accurate, reaching well over 480 dpi on three dimensional printing. Leading companies like Diamond and Zcorp are finding more and more ways to create better 3D printers to sculpt for people.

 What is the future for artists and sculptors in this field if all this personal manufacturing is going to come next? We've been thinking about it and there were a lot of things brought up to the table. First off, we believe that sculpting as an artform is the creative talent that allows a person to conceive a design in free space. Whether in tangible form or in computer cyberspace, a sculptor will still remain a sculptor. Pixar's animators for us are also considered as some of the best sculptors because although they do not use concrete media, their capability for sculptural design well exceeds the par standards. Sculptors do not need to worry about their craft being stolen by machines or computer engineers, because talent is talent and it doesn't matter what media people will use to create. What we believe sculptors must do, is learn. The artists of today need to learn and adapt to the recent public technology thats becoming more and more available to the market. the days of stubborn traditions are over, we have to move with the tides of technology.

Aside from this bit, we believe that just like the Jewelry industry, the sculpture world will still have a direct need for hand-made artwork. Why? Mainly because it appeals to people. Hand-made sculptures are different from 3D modeled print-outs, just like hand-cast jewelry is a novelty that hasn't been replaced even after the invention of the wax printer (Computer-Aided Manufacturing) and the Rhino Program (Computer Aided Design for Jewelry.) Technology may be getting more accurate, but who ever said that beauty was all bout accuracy? For the most part, sculptural trends are actually deviating away from accuracy. With the emergence of modern and contemporary sculptures, as well as the diversity in sculpting media today, I seriously doubt that there will be printers that can catch up to these movements any time soon.

The lost wax process is probably one of the most famous casting processes that has circulated throughout the modern art community. Aside from bronze usage it can also be used with other metals (for jewelry sculpture) or with some non-metal materials like powdered marble. The first step of the sculpting process is to fashion a 3D design out of wax. Sculptors may also mix the wax with paraffin in different amounts to adjust the hardness of the wax. This is very important because the wax needs to stay directly in place while the artist is carving it. Always keep in mind that the balance and position of every element within the sculpture could play a vital or fatal role in the durability of the finished bronze piece.

Carving sculptures in wax can be relatively easy due to the material traits of normal wax. Practice can be done in blocks or candlesticks before the actual design process takes place. This may give the artist a good feel of the material before proceeding any further.

Once the carved studies are finished in wax, a sculptor then needs to attach them to wax funnels by welding sprues (sticks also made of wax). Melting and fusing wax is easy when you have a heated metal material to join the two parts. A heated rod (with a non-heated handle) might be a good choice for doing this. Afterwards, the sculptures are always places near to the bottom of the funnel. Thick sticks of wax are joined using the heated metal rod onto the sculpture where the molten bronze will enter. Thinner sticks of wax can also be joined nearer to the top of the sculpture to form vents. An artist must take into consideration the fact of air entrapment in the negative mold to come. The reason vents are placed properly is so that the pockets of air can escape in order for the molten bronze to fill the cavity of the negative mold.

This mold that we've been talking about must be a negative side of the positive design of the wax sculpture. The wax sculpture must eventually be melted out of the mold before proceeding with the casting. Remember also that before pouring any amount of molten bronze into the mold, the mold must be heated to a suitable degree (it must never ever be cold). The artist then sets the mold onto a vertically stable position and can then proceed with pouring his molten bronze into the cavity of the mold.

Once the bronze has been allowed to cool off, the mold material can be scratched away to reveal the solid bronze interior of the sculpture. Remember the wax sticks that were used as vents? Well, in the final sculpture they are still present, now as solid bronze. The sculptor would need to clear them out with power tools and then simply finish the piece with sandblasting equipment and metal polish or an applicable patina.