Meet Jack, the new hare around here. He’ll be going to the foundry soon. ‘Here’ is, by the way, Australia. We moved back a few months before Covid happened, so had time to settle in before battening down the hatches.
K.J.Bishop
Artist & Author
Meet Jack, the new hare around here. He’ll be going to the foundry soon. ‘Here’ is, by the way, Australia. We moved back a few months before Covid happened, so had time to settle in before battening down the hatches.
Hello, handsome! He looks lean and ready for action. He has the air of a Dreamtime kind of figure – someone who just finished emerging from one form (perhaps raw earth), and is about to shift into another.
Shapeshifting potential is something I’ve realised I like about simplified/abstracted figures, and hadn’t been able to put my finger on — thank you!
He might be a Russell Drysdale kind of hare. We had this picture at home and I always liked it:
https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/work/5519/
Jack makes quite an impression. I’ll bet it’s nice having his thoughts around. Thank you for sharing. I really like your sculptures and would be interested in purchasing one at some point, if there is a chance.
Hi and thanks Benjamin, and sorry for the delay in posting your comment. Jack is at the foundry now — I’m looking forward to seeing him in bronze. I’ll put pictures of him here when he’s finished. Currently I have sculptures at Stony Creek Gallery in Daylesford (https://www.stonycreekgallery.com.au/) and Cascade Gallery in Maldon (https://cascadeart.com.au/). A few pieces can be purchased directly from me ([email protected] for inquiries).
Hello
I adore the pose and he looks ready for action and to take on the world
How long did it take you to design and sculpt him and I’d love to know your process
GM
Hi Giovanni, and thank you. He’s made of wax over a wire armature, and is in the process of being cast by the lost wax method. A rubber mould is made and wax is poured into the mould, one wax copy for each piece in the edition. The waxes are tidied up (mould seams removed and other flaws corrected), covered with a slurry that dries hard, then the wax is burnt out and the bronze is poured in.
Design-wise he was pretty spontaneous. For skinny figures like him I usually have an idea in my head, then make the armature, cover it with a thin layer of wax, bend it around until I’m happy with the pose, which may end up quite different from my first idea, then add the rest of the wax. Putting on the wax for a piece like him without realistic details is fast, maybe a few hours of actual work, or a few days of work plus thinking. Sometimes I get the pose immediately, sometimes it takes longer, or I might leave the piece alone for a while and come back to it. I like to be spontaneous again with the texture of the wax initially, but then I’ll go over the whole thing to improve it visually and make it more serviceable for moulding. His complex texture is making the wax finishing stage of the casting process slow. It’s important to get the wax right; otherwise, flaws will have to be corrected after the metal is cast, which takes longer.