Casting with Plaster

CASTING WITH PLASTER

Fine Art and Sculpture - Week 1

My first option choice within the Foundation course was Fine Art and Sculpture, this involves exploring a range of two-dimensional and three-dimensional mediums.

Plastic Cups

During the first week we took part in a casting workshop we were able to explore the nature of plaster, how it could be used and the fragility of the material. We experimented with casting vegetables such as peppers, where the smooth, organic surface was replicated, but also with man-made objects such as plastic cups by dripping plaster and creating negative casts of familiar objects.

Body Casting

We also experimented with alginate casts, which allow more complex shapes to be cast. Alginate sets to a flexible mould, which plaster can then be poured into. By using alginate a negative of the body can be produced with incredible detail – we cast fingers and hands, where every mark was visible such as creases, marks and finger prints.

I like the way that through casting every detail of an object can be highlighted and replicated, for example the grooves within the plastic cups or the smooth texture of the pepper.

Cast of a Pepper

The use of casting and plaster has helped me gain knowledge of three-dimensional objects and the way that they can be replicated out of plaster to create sculptural pieces with new meaning.