This, my first post to my Studio Life Blog, is a silent video more akin to a slideshow than anything else which I plan to repost as soon as I’m able with a soundtrack added. Ultimately, I plan to make it an instructional video … so I hope you’ll revisit this blog frequently as I will be posting similar ‘how-I-did-it’ videos referencing some of the other works you will see in my gallery section entitled “Works”

This video details the making of my ‘Support’ sculpture which was later renamed ‘Integrity’ by the client who commissioned me to do it. I gave it that name because, while the adult hand is providing support to the child visually, in actuality the child’s hand and arm are physically supporting the greater weight of the adult’s arm and hand above it. After conceiving this three-dimensional image, this paradox became my biggest challenge as it entailed overcoming the laws of physics by carefully balancing the weight and mass of the total form.

I first built prototypes, beginning with one about twice life-size, then another larger one increased again by a factor of two. I was then assured that, theoretically at least, my final product would withstand the stresses imposed upon it. Again, this was just theoretical, because the material I would use to cast the object was of higher density than the material used in my prototypes. You’ll note the upper ‘adult’ arm appears to be cantilevered off-centre from the lower child’s arm, presenting a bit of a mystery to the viewer about how it was accomplished.

The slideshow begins by showing my prototypes then illustrating how I calibrated the dimensions of a smaller prototype, then determined the scale I would use throughout, by comparing those measurements with actual-size drawings.

As the video progresses, each step of the process is documented on film, and will be almost self-explanatory to anyone family with mold-making procedures. Toward the end of the clip you will find film documentation of the making of the plinth itself, and how the sculpture was moved to its intended location and installed.