Art 308: Sculpture Studio

Monica Milstead

Project 1- Process

In this particular piece, I wanted to both explore the physical qualities of the material I was using and through a repetitive process explore the range of variety I could get from a single unit of action and general shape. I first selected a medium that I was somewhat familiar with, and would lend itself easily to a repetitive action. The act of wrapping plaster gauze was simple enough, but as I continued to do so, the process began to complicate itself more and more and layers became thicker and the material itself became more solid and strong.
I chose to work within a grid of nine in order to give some sort of cue of organization to the objects I was making. The grid emphasizes the wrapping pattern as the cloth meanders its way between these containers. I also chose the same object again and again to wrap the plaster gauze around—a small baby food jar. However, the origin is hidden in the massive variation that is made. I also wanted to work in multiples to display the variation a single process can create—not just because of my own instincts, but because of my reactions to the material’s actions.

I would have liked to either create more in order to keep the process of wrapping going until it was emphasized to the point of overload. The variety would be overwhelming and self evident if, instead of nine, there were thirty six wrapped jars. Looking back, another thing I may have done differently is to either show one of these shapes in the act of wrapping or unraveling. Or have more material falling off of the whole structure—so it doesn’t end up looking like a solid finished object. Some of my choices still lean this piece into the area of “finished” object—but I don’t consider this finished, but rather a small portion of something that I could expand on further given time and materials.