Silicone Mask – YEAR 2| RAYVENN SHALEIGHA D'CLARK| THEORETICAL

(Mueck) Angel, 1997

Silicone rubber and mixed media

(110 x 87 x 81 cm 43¼ x 34¼ x 32″)

A secondary aspect of my work is working to create a realistic life cast employing prosthetic techniques (hair, skin colouration etc.) ignorer to create a high realistic casting of the face I have already cast.

This I feel this is a very natural step from my original clay cast, as well as my drawings. I feel this will really allow me to practise my life casting skills and will allow my work (and thinking) to come full circle as I will really be able to bring my original thoughts and working into the 3-D realm which was a keen interest of mine since the first year.

I feel that it will also allow me to create secondary drawings of my creations, allowing both aspects o my workings to coalesce into one sustained piece.

The process will follow mecum of the same when creating the original life casting, to which I will again use the original mould but I will then create another positive mould of the clay which I can colour accordingly, add hair etc.

As this is totally new for my I expect this to make a few weeks from start to finish but I feel this is definably worth it in terms of progressing my practise. Hopefully I will have a number of these before the year is out, and will be able to start to work on realistic full-body castings over the summer and into the third year. Heavily inspired by Mueck and Craig Booth I am excited for the coming weeks.

Craig Booth

Perhaps then I can also play will scales and levels of detail in the coming weeks also

Research:

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2006/aug/06/art2

A naked, heavily pregnant woman stood in the centre of one room, made out of Mueck’s standard materials, acrylic, fibreglass and silicone. Called simply Pregnant Woman, she loomed above visitors, lifelike, and yet about a third larger than life-size, her face drawn and troubled as if by the sheer weight of impending motherhood. Nearby, a tiny baby lay sleeping, life-size, almost human, swaddled in a blanket tied with real string.
Not for the first time, Mueck had struck a chord that resonated way beyond the confines of the contemporary art world, making conceptual art that spoke directly to a public either bemused or outraged by the provocations of his more famous contemporaries. ‘He is that rare thing,’ elaborates Wiggins, ‘a contemporary artist who does not need critics or curators explaining his work. The art communicates its mystery directly and with a great emotional power.‘ This much was evident when Mueck first appeared on the conceptual art scene seemingly out of nowhere and at the very height of the hype and hysteria that attended the Young British Artists movement.
Unbelievably, Sensation was the first show in which Mueck exhibited. Now, nine years on, and still very much an outsider on the contemporary British art scene, the Australian-born artist who never attended art school but, instead, served an apprenticeship with Muppeteer Jim Henson, has been granted a one-man show at the Scottish Royal Academy in Edinburgh.

Prep:

Positive Clay Cast – Half Face

Remoulding:

Like the original clay mould I need to refine the finer details of the mask (nose, skin texture, ears etc.) before casting in silicon to produce the best mask possible.

Refining:

This involved smoothing the facial textures (nearing the forehead and in crevices of the facial features) as well as cropping the mask itself.

I decided to move away from the entire face and feel that it will work better on a smaller, concentrated scale so I can put met of my efforts in the central aspects of the face.

Nostrils

The mould needs to remain a solid mould, but retain as much of the textual features as possible. So, when carving the nose,it needs to retain depth and texture, but not become a hole in the clay casting. Using the tools I created significant depth to the nostril area, being careful to not follow all the way through to the other side. This was probably the largest change made to the mould. Other refinements including removing excess clay, smoothing some of the skin textural areas and creating clearer lines and indentations on the eyelids and on the lips.

Mould Final

The mould is now finished, and ready for the surface to be prepped (with silicon release agents, baby powder: which allow the silicone mould to retain as much of the textural details as possible) for the secondary silicone mould.

(finished nostrils)

(***eye details***)

Making ‘Negative Easy Flow-120 mould’

PART 1

A gradation of layers (thin print coat, followed by 3 thickened – with Polyfibre – Easy Flow layers and left to cool before remoulding)

Remoulding – Easy Flow ‘Negative’

‘Negative Impression from Clay re-casting’

original Clay mould – will be melted and re-used

‘Positive’ Cast – Silicone (2 layers) into Easy Flow ‘Negative’ Mould

Foam Backing – FlexiFoam IT V was placed inside of the silicone mould and allowed to harden before completely remoulding the two layers.

UNSUCCESSFUL ‘FIRST’ ATTEMPT

Unfortunately, the initial layer of silicone was too thick and did not see properly into the impressions of the ‘Easy-Flow’ mould, meaning that after I remoulded he silicone, it was left which numerous air bubbles, and of an inconsistent texture. As a result I had to use the remaining materials I had to recast (approx. 1 semi-thick layer) the silicone into the mould in a second attempt. Hopefully this will yield better results.

‘First Attempt’

ATTEMPT #2

This time only one (coloured) layer was applied. Compared to the last, the initial ‘print layer’ was much more fluid and i am more confident in its ability to take the impression of the mould.

Following this (below) I also put Flexi-Foam into the inventor if the cast adding more than my first attempt (100ml of Parts A + B) in the hope it will stick to the Silicone and be a firm mould backing.

ATTEMPT 2:

Much more successful, it seems the Sloshing technique was much more successful when casting from my Easy-Fow Mould in comparison to the Pasting method. It works wonderfully in re-creating the original detail of the casting. Even more so, it has a brilliant texture, much more realistic than the Clay or Easy-Flow casts, which will allow me to really emphasis the sense of realism when painting and adding skin blemishes and hair.

Like my first attempt it is backed using Foam but I feel that it is ineffective in really holding the mould in place. I feel that for my final outcome I will experiment with a different type of mould that binds with the silicone, taking the original shape of the casting. Also, in this attempt, it seems that some of the loose bits contained within the negative mould have come offend minded with the silicone. This means that unlike the clay it will be difficult to pick out this pieces and remould accordingly. This is why I feel another attempt is important in really resolving these issues.

Furthermore, this casting was made using the last of my Silicone and so around the edges of the cast (towards the forehead, side checks especially) there is a significant thinning of the material. Much like the tutorial it would have been better to do repeated castings. This is something I will improve on in the next casting.

face-on

***details***

In this image especially you can see the almost oil like texture of the silicone. Greatly resembling skin that is slightly oily, I am amazed with the sense of realism that has come from this cast, even more so then by casting in clay. I do feel that this is another positive step towards a full head, or maybe even fully body but feel that in the mean time I will definitely do repeated castings with a number of models

Progression Images – Attempt(s) 1-3

Attempt 1

This mould however does have the desired amount of layers (2-3) which forms a semi0thick texture that allows the mask to remain more stable and lifelike, both in texture and touch.

Here you can see an excess in foam backing. It does however form an important counterbalance which allows the silicone to stay upright. However it does disrupt the the look of the mould with a large, white perturbing excess of foam appearing at the bottom. Shaping I feel is key here in allowing the backing to properly support the mould, but not stick-out of the mask itself.

***details***

Shows the various skin inconsistencies within the original mould. Clearly the material did not seep into the mould, leaving the many patches and holes in the silicone rubber. This is especially evident on the nose and chin area.

Attempt 2:

Here you can see there is significant thinning of the mask due to lack of materials. Although this more takes the shoe of my desired outcome, there needs to be significant layers added when casting in order to achieve a desires thickness that will allow for further manipulation and painting.

Here there is significantly less (100 ml max.) of foam backing which makes for a much more realistic backing for the mould. This means that in terms of mounting I will need to shape the outcome of the foam, in terms of flatness, in order for it not to be visibly seen when inspecting the mask. This may mean placing a flat surface onto of the exposed mould/foam when it is curing in order for it become flush with the mask. when the desired shape is achieved, I will then use silicone glue to permanently glue to the backing inside the mask.

***details***

Here you can see that the skins surface is much more intake, bearing the features of the original mould. However there is significant debris that remains on and imbedded in the skins surface. As this is a adhesive mould, it is very difficult to remove a lot of the larger more visible pieces of the mould. This means that on my second attempt I need to properly (again) clean the mould in order to minis the amount of maintenance I have to do after the casting has been done. Inconsistencies can also be seen in the temple near the eyebrow. I now have to look for methods of skinning and repairing surface inconsistinessuch as this before I move onto waiting the silicone mould.

Attempt 3:

I feel that a lot of my mistakes in my previous attempt have been rectified in this final casting. There is a good amount of layers, minimal degree on the silicone’s surface and the foam backing is not an issue when viewing the casting. With this attempt there still needs to be manipulations made to the skins surface (in terms of dusting and trimming), as well as one of the nostrils and the overall shape of the silicone (edging)

Here only looking at the silicone from this angle can the foam backing be seen. In terms of problem solving maybe I can recast the foam and add colouring, or possibly to fill in the gap underneath the chin area (would-be-neck-area) in order to make the backing fully invisible. I will do further research and choose the best option, but I am cautious that I do not want to waste materials, or overly manipulate the mask from this outcome.

Here manipulations to the right nostril can be seen. This extent to trimming some of the silicone that did not mould properly in the mould.