I always remember being in awe of all the art my grandmother had decorated her house with. I particularly loved this sculpture of hers, an Inuit family that could be turned and viewed from all angles. I especially loved the dogs with the family.
I learned later that my grandma sculpted this after spending two months living in Alaska in a motorhome in 1988. In Fairbanks, the Golden Heart Plaza had opened a year prior and featured an 18-foot sculpture by artist Malcom Alexander. It is called "Unknown First Family" the artist said, "Portraying the family of all mankind, the family of Fairbanks, and the nuclear family, let this statue symbolize, for families present and future, the pride and dignity of this great land." My Grandma was so inspired by the statue that she wanted to sculpt her own version. She photographed it from all angles and when she got home again, began sculpting this. She wanted to cast it in bronze, but it was too expensive. She had someone cast it in plaster and then paint it to look like bronze. My grandmother died suddenly in 2007 when I was in high school. She went to the hospital the morning I Ieft to Seattle on Tour with the Madrigals, she passed before I got home. I was always devastated that I hadn't sought out to learn more from her. She had shown me a little bit of painting when I was in elementary school, but I was young and had so much more I could have learned. I was given her sculpting tools after she passed, and it meant the world to me. Then my grandpa in 2019 and when my grandmother's art was being divided amongst the family, there was an effort to photograph them to preserve her paintings, files where shared with everyone. But what about the statue? I didn't think the pictures could do it justice. But then I thought, I have been practicing mold making skills for years, I have made cold casts-resin that looks like metal- I have learned about materials and techniques to be confident I could make a near perfect replica. I could make many casts to share with my family so we could all have a piece of her artwork in our homes. My cousin, who inherited the statue, has graciously allowed me to go forward with this idea, I have borrowed it and now want to share the whole process of making the replicas with everyone. I hope you enjoy.
Most all materials used were purchased from Reynolds Advanced Materials
Step 1- Prep work
I use a couple dabs of hot glue to hold the statue in place on top of a piece of melamine board. I place this on top of a lazy Susan so I could easily access all sides.
I carefully washed any dust away with a soft brush and soapy water. I needed to seal the wood because it is porous and the silicone could mechanically stick to it. I used a smooth-on product called Super Seal to seal because it can be washed off after I'm done.
Step 2- test
No one is exactly sure what materials were used to make this. The best guess is that it is plaster that has been painted bronze. Silicone can sometimes be tricky and won't cure properly against certain materials. I mixed up a very small batch of my silicone to see if there is any cure inhibition.
The test was successful! No cure inhibition or damage to the statue.
Step 3- the mold
I am building a cavity pour mold, it can also be called a matrix mold. Here is a good video that goes over some of the different mold types there are, and why you would want to choose that kind or not. the part about cavity pour molds starts around 11 mins https://youtu.be/T1NNYlp8pzs?si=hLKkGISiqeRooyrV
I chose this type of mold because I know that I am going to be cold casting this figure and I wanted a seamless mold. The first step is covering the whole thing with clay. by rolling out the clay to the desired thickness I can control how thick my hold ends up being. Don't worry, I did cover the statue with plastic wrap to prevent any clay residue. I used Chavant Sculptex soft, it's a sulfur free (so it won't badly interact with the silicone) oil-based clay (reusable)
Next, I added more clay in a pattern. these are called keys, and it will help the silicone fit into the mother mold more securely. I also added playing cards to the center line, these will help me divide the mother mold into two halves. Notice that I folded some V shaped notches in some cards. These act as keys to help the two halves line up and not shift around. I used my grandmother's sculpting tools to help me shape the keys and smooth the surface, it felt right to do.
Next, I built up the mother mold, one half at a time. I used a product called Free Form Air, it comes as a two-part putty and is very strong and lightweight. Each half of the mother mold needs to cure for 24 hours, I used Sonite Wax to prevent it from sticking to the playing cards, melamine board, and the other side of the mold. After this part fully cures, I can pry the two sides apart, remove the clay and pour silicone into the cavity.
Removing the clay went fairly easy, but next time I'll use a bit of wax on the outside of the clay to help it go easier. I also will be more careful appyling the freeform air mother mold next time, there was one area that had an air pocket that would have made a mechanical lock. I filled it back in with clay before doing the silicone pour.
Next up was pouring the silicone! I was nervous for this step, and I was right to be. on my first attempt to do the pour, it failed completely. I had not secured the mother mold enough the pressure of all that silicone popped the mold right off the melamine board. Luckily my husband was right there to help me hold things in place just long enough so I could grab a tub to guide the silicone into before it spilled all over the floor. I am still embarrassed that I made this mistake.
I added more freeform air and drilled some holes for some nuts and bolts to hold it in place and that did the trick, my second silicon pour was perfect. Grandma's sculpture is completely unharmed and the mold is ready for casting.
The casting process takes a couple steps: first I dust the surface of the mold with bronze powder. Then I used Smooth Cast 57D, a casting resin with a gradual cure for rotational casting. it cures translucent white so it's able to take colorants/additives easier. I used 1 part A, 1 part B, 1 part bronze powder and a couple drops of black pigment. I mixed it together thoroughly then poured it in. I rotated the mold around by hand until the resin hand cured only on the outside. I used Smooth Cast Onyx to fill in the rest of the mold. This method saves money by only having the bronze powder where it is needed. It is the most expensive material in the casting, so it really saves a lot!
It comes straight out of the mold looking pretty plain and brown. but with a little buffing with some fine steel wool and black shoe polish patina, it looks just like the original! My dad is working on cutting some wooden bases and I am working on casting more copies.
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