Introducing the latest character to join the Secret Society.....
...named after some iconic New York skyscrapers.
I found the model buildings at the Museum of New York - erasers for sale in the shop! Lucky find.
The silicone mould and one side of the plaster jacket.
Making the plaster jacket to hold the silicone mould in place
I made the hat from cardboard packaging - the kind which is cut and formed to hold a specific product. I find these cardboard structures interesting and very sculptural.
Releasing the plaster cast from the mould - always a nerve racking moment the first time. Did it work????
Unintentionally, the hair turned out to look rather like the ringlets worn by 18th century guys and the hat a bit like a tricorn. In fact it seemed to resemble an American soldier in the wars of independence. One of the fascinating things about working in the way I do is that it's only with the final plaster cast that one can see these visual connections to hats, hair or costumes of various historical or contemporary designs.
Peeling the silicone mould of my original sculpture.
When I was about 13 years old I had a box of talcum powder with a black and white image of Manhattan at night - it seemed the absolute incarnation of glamour and sophistication to me. It was called Lady Manhattan and when I found these model buildings it took me 0.1 second to think of a title for the bust.
Sometimes creating a new sculpture is a long struggle to balance concept, imagery, form and texture, but this one seemed to construct itself which was a pleasurable change!
See the entire plaster bust collection on my website: Plaster Busts
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