Wrapping up the semester with a smooth finish

The final 3D piece that I created in class is this piece made of gypsum plaster. This piece had the potential to be a lot simpler and less time-consuming to create and finish if it wasn't for the fact that I made myself a week behind. However, once I got going on the piece, I was able to get it knocked out quicker than I expected and was able to create a piece that (hopefully) doesn't look rushed.

The Balancing Spheres

26" x 17" x 7"

This purpose of this piece was to create a piece that was non-representational and could be crafted to stand on its own without extra support or balance. The piece required the creation of an armature that acted as the skeleton of the finished project. This piece was originally meant to look more like the maquette pictured below, but constructing the curved arm proved to be much more difficult of a task.

The whiffle ball on the left was the original inspiration for how the spheres were supposed to look. The spiky ball on the right was what they wound up being modeled after as I liked the look of them more.

Materials

This project used a smaller number of tools and materials as compared to the previous two projects. The armature portion of the project was constructed using 1x2 lumber, a couple of screws, and two styrofoam spheres. The armature was then covered in chicken wire to create the general shape of the arms constructed from the wood. The entire surface of chicken wire was then covered over with plaster-dipped fabric strips covering the entire surface. The plaster used was gypsum plaster and was mixed in a bucket with water. Drywall sanding screen was used to sand down the plaster after a few layers were placed to create a smooth finish.

Progress of the Project

This is the original maquette that was created as a basis for the final piece. The original design of the curved arm and cutouts on the spheres was changed due to time constraints, the overall stability of the structure, and a change in ideal aesthetic.

This was after a layer of plaster-dipped fabric and one layer of thick plaster prior to the second plaster layer and the smoothing layer.

This was after the smoothing layer of plaster and with the rough sanding completed. After this step, the piece was sanded down until smooth and then the spheres were rewetted with water in order to attach more plaster creating the spiky, bumpy texture.

The Completed Piece

Final Thoughts

This piece gave me a chance to work with a material I had never worked with before and has given me experience working with gypsum plaster. Overall, I feel that this piece was a success even though it didn't come out how I originally expected it to. The biggest struggle that I had with the work was the fact that I was working against time and had a limited timespan to be able to work on the piece. I do take full responsibility for this struggle and I do know that if I had been able to dedicate more time to the piece that it would be even more successful than it already is. Another struggle that I had was learning how the plaster responded over time and making sure that I didn't waste what I had mixed. I found it hard to keep track of exactly how long I had with a certain batch of plaster once it got to a certain thickness and found myself trying to use as much as I could before it got too hard to work with. In regards to successes on this piece, I do feel that I was able to shape a piece from nothing and have it be appealing to the eye.

With this piece, I did truly learn even more about managing my time and making sure that I allot enough time to a piece so that I'm not rushing or cutting corners. I also was able to learn and use a new material that I'm interested in working with again as I would really like to see what else I could create with the gypsum plaster.

I'm also really glad that I've had the opportunity to take a 3D design class and have the chance to learn and create with new materials that I never would have attempted before.