If you want to see Part 1 of this series just scroll down to the previous entry, which will also give fuller information on the context. This was a commission from the London gallery The New Craftsmen for an ‘interactive model/installation’ exhibited at Christie’s during ‘Contemporary Living: Art, Craft and Design’ April 1-4 2017. The exhibition brought together work from Christie’s, The New Craftsmen and the South African gallery Southern Guild. All in all I had to make more than forty model versions of the exhibits complete with decorated plinths, which anyone could then move around to ‘curate’ their own exhibition within the space.
Here I am presenting a selection of my model versions accompanied by the publicity photos I was working from and a little information about each artist/designer. I have also included some notes on the materials or the techniques I’ve used to simulate the objects.
Porky Hefer
South African artist Porky Hefer’s Fallen Bird’s Nest is in reality woven ‘kooboo’ cane with a leather cushion. If I’d been able to allocate more than just a couple of days to this interesting piece I would have attempted weaving very thin, soft wire or even tried a 3D printing ‘pen’. But I had to settle for making a basic wire armature, then modelling both canework and cushion in Super Sculpey, painted with acrylics.
Above the original Fallen Bird’s Nest, kooboo cane and leather, courtesy of Southern Guild.
Charles Haupt
Charles Haupt works in bronze, with his own art foundry called Bronze Age in Cape Town. His speciality is making cast bronze components which can be configured in various ways as table supports or stands. For these he takes his inspiration from the regular thorns of the native South African Num Num shrub. For me these pieces were the most challenging to represent, partly in keeping them as thin but smooth as possible and also because, in the case of the tables, the structures have to be very finely tuned to meet both the ‘floor’ and the level tabletop.
Luckily I could snip out the basic shapes in pre-welded wire mesh, then model a thin, smoothed layer of Milliput to achieve the distinctive appearance. This needed a lot of delicate sanding before basecoating in dark matte acrylic, then dry-brushing Treasure Gold wax-gilt finish. The thin acrylic table tops had to be secured to the supports with the merest dots of superglue.
Previously the original Num Num Coffee Table in cast bronze and glass, and below the Num Num Branch in polished bronze. Photos courtesy of Southern Guild
The ensemble above features some of the smaller works presented by The New Craftsmen from Nic Webb, Edmond Byrne and Leah Jensen. In the model I represented smaller works such as these in a slightly larger scale to reinforce their presence alongside the larger pieces.
Edmond Byrne
Edmond Byrne is an Irish glass-blower whose technique involves blowing into hand-made moulds. Byrne lines these moulds with various materials such as clay or fabric which impart rough, matte effects on the cooled glass surface, in contrast to the sleek and glossy interior.
The easiest way I could achieve this in the model was by doing a similar thing .. by modelling a shape then making a mould from it. I then coloured some clear, viscous epoxy resin (Poundland epoxy adhesive) with a smudge of oil paint and spread it into the mould. To enhance the dusty patina on the outside I removed the cast while still a little tacky and brushed talc into the surface.
Below the original Large textured glass bowl with kaolin patina in amber. Photo courtesy of The New Craftsmen.
Nic Webb
There were two very beautiful pieces by Nic Webb .. the sycamore Moon Jar represented above and the boxwood Lost Vessel below. Webb had given the sycamore a rich, dark finish which, as it turned out, I could suggest fairly well in slow-baked Super Sculpey with a few coats of brown shoe polish. Apart from the scorched interior the boxwood Lost Vessel was much paler so I had to use paint .. and never really got it! I realise now that I might have done better if I’d used a mix of translucent, cream and light brown Sculpey without needing to paint.
Below the original Lost Vessel and Moon Jar courtesy of The New Craftsmen. The colours in this quick reference photo are not accurate.
Stanislaw Trzebinski
The young South African designer Stanislaw Trzebinski takes inspiration from marine forms, especially the ‘sea changes’ effected by aquatic organisms. Apparently he envisioned his sturdy tables as if underwater .. floating and transforming. As wood he uses muninga (also known as kiaat in Afrikaans) which is warm with a distinct, lively appearance. I wanted to trial a different technique for simulating this and needed it highly polished.
I was pleased with the results obtained surfacing the plinths with patterned acetate so I tried the same with the table surfaces .. finding a suitable image; adjusting the scale and printing on inkjet compatible film, which was then spraymounted onto the Pvc table top, ink-side down (once it had dried on the film, which can take a while!).
One of the virtues of this method is that the pattern feels ‘within’ the surface (rather than sitting on top, like paint). Inkjet ink is transparent, so layers can be superimposed for richer, darker effects. Lastly, the top surface of the acetate is a perfect ‘mirror’ gloss, if this is the aim, but it can also be subdued as I’ve done here by rubbing with scouring sponge or superfine sanding pad (available from specialist decorator’s shops such as Leyland). When cladding a surface in this way it’s always better to cut the image slightly larger; spraymount onto the image; press and rub onto the host surface; turn over, and trim the edges with a fine scalpel. I’ve used 3M Display Mount for a strong bond.
I used strong, thin glassfibre rod for the legs (because it bonds well to the Pvc top) then modelled the details in Milliput. Below is the actual table, entitled Meza ya mwamba, cast bronze and kiaat, courtesy of Southern Guild.
David Krynauw
The Johannesburg designer David Krynauw chose panga panga wood (related to wenge) for this version of his Jeppestown Waiting Bench. In it he’s paid homage to the traditional riempie furniture method (using worked leather thonging for seats or backs).
I cut the basic framework out of 2mm Palight, then there was a deal of edge smoothing. Of course I had to take a shortcut with the criss-cross thonging (which in reality is surprisingly thin), substituting pieces of plastic embroidery mesh. Below is the real Jeppestown Waiting Bench, panga panga and leather, courtesy of Southern Guild.
Meyer von Wielligh
‘Meyer von Wielligh’ is the duo Norman Meyer and Abrie von Wielligh. They have created a number of versions of their Leaf Sideboard .. this one using ash wood and steel, the leaf patterns inspired by leaves scattered on the floor of Knysna Forest, in the Garden Route area of South Africa.
For me, once again Palight foamed Pvc came to the rescue, because it can be easily embossed .. sparing me the chore of inlaying real wood veneer which wouldn’t have done the job at that scale anyway.
Below is the photo reference for Leaf Sideboard, solid ash and steel, courtesy of Southern Guild.
William Waterhouse and Louisa Loakes
For their Cherry Day bed collaboration William Waterhouse made the structure and textile designer Louisa Loakes hand-printed the mattress and head-roll. They both work in London, William specialising in furniture and installation pieces often employing movement and mechanisation. I found it easiest and ‘neatest’ to model mattress and roll in Sculpey, then paint with acrylics. The written dimensions suffered in transit, so my version ended up a little short!
One of William’s kinetic installation pieces was included in the exhibition; the Beaufort (Air Powered Machine) .. a mesmerising chandelier-like structure fed from an unseen air pump. Since I couldn’t hang anything in the model, mine had to rest as if ‘off duty’ on a plinth.
Photos of the original Cherry Day bed, cherry wood and steel with hand-printed textiles and Beaufort (Air Powered Machine) in brass and air, courtesy of The New Craftsmen.
Heino Schmitt
Heino Schmitt’s bench which he entitled Be Seated utilizes an unusually large piece of olive wood which he found on a river bed. Some of the original nature of the wood has been retained at the edges but combined with decidedly man-made elements in brass and steel. Once again I grained and painted Palight for the seat. Photo below courtesy of Southern Guild.
Trevor Potter
Trevor Potter’s Weaver Nest Lamp represents a fascination with a weaver bird colony near to his home. Like a number of the other South African designers he favours bronze, because of the freedom it gives to model in an amenable material such as wax before making inflexible in metal. A quote from him about the work is worth giving in full:
‘Nest-building exemplifies a drive to create and it is in this instinct, shared by all life, that consciousness shows its face and expression can be noticed’
My simple expression of it just involved Pvc, wire and Sculpey. Below is the original, bronze and glass, courtesy of Southern Guild.
