Seeing From Glass
The main purpose of this sculpture is to present a creature of my imagination. This creature's belief comes from the eye, which is an important organ for recording time, space, and movement. This also shows the narrative art through my art studies and include religion concept in my imagination of creation.
Many of Philip Jackson’s works are from public commissions, such as the Bomber Command Memorial in London’s Green Park, or the statue of Bobby Moore that welcomes football fans to Wembley Stadium.As a sculptor, Philip Jackson’s works are both traditional and innovative.
Inspiration
The traditional part continues the medieval custom of religious themes and the various painting styles of the Renaissance, and he uses this theme as an element in the painting process.
IDEA IMPROVMENT
The images they represent are the ‘Executive’, the ‘Reminiscer’, the ‘Sacrifice’, and the ‘Addict’. Among them, the two more obvious images, the executive and the sacrifice, both exist as elements of classicism. They are, as Philip Jackson put it, ‘ I look back at a previous age and render it in an impressionistic but contemporary manner.’ As the past, even some of the past is bound. When I think of the word ‘bound’, I start to continue to think, what will bind you? Perhaps it is the ‘job position’ represented by the clothes on the executive, or perhaps it is the ‘faith’ symbolized by the sacrifice. These constraints continue over time and space. Until people let go of the things that bind them.
Furthermore, I began to think, why is there bondage again? So I created two other images - "the reminiscer" and "the addict." The bondage at the beginning may be caused by external pressure. And another kind of constraint may be the constraint that one subjectively finds. Such as a good memory, or a persistent love. People take the initiative to need to be bound by what they want, and finally bind themselves together, which is a firm and not so much a sense of "mutual trust" relationship. For me, it is precisely from my art that I want to present and explore my relationship with bondage. Am I passively bound by it and forced to accept change or am I actively looking for something that can bind me and actively making an offer that will not change after that?
Inspiration Images: Tarot
MEDIUM STUDY
Monster clay
At room temperature, the texture is hard and fine enough to be handmade. It is suitable for high-quality prototypes, as well as for industrial design models. It can be softened or repaired in warm conditions. At high temperatures, it melts directly into liquid, very hot. From fully hardened to moderately soft, I can put it in the microwave, put it on high heat, and in 2 minutes I have a material that is easy to mould and not too hot to handle. At normal room temperature, it doesn't shrink. When Monster Clay was the medium, it felt softer to me when I was molding it. Its hardness is determined by temperature. The higher the temperature, the softer the texture, even from solid to liquid. The lower the temperature, the clay becomes solid, hard but flexible. Overall, this clay is very malleable and it is easy to make different shapes as long as I control the temperature.
Porcelain Clay
The porcelain clay used is kaolin. Clay has moisture-absorbing properties after drying. High refractoriness, up to 1770~1790℃. Medium to low plasticity, with good insulation and chemical stability. Calcination whiteness is high, ranging from 60 to 90%. It is mainly used to make daily ceramics, industrial ceramics, building sanitary ceramics, and refractory materials.
After firing porcelain has the following characteristics: Color white, crisp quality, sound crisp, transparent, watertight, and delicate texture, but also has high-temperature heat resistance, acid and alkaline resistance, and is not easy to pollute. It's not too soft, it's not too hard. But it has a very serious problem, which is that it needs to control the moisture of the soil. If the humidity is too high, it will explode when it is burned in the kiln because the temperature inside and outside is not the same. And if the humidity is too low, I can't even do simple shaping. So the most important thing is to control the water content.
Glass
Glass is a medium of smooth textured transparent material. I like glass softens in the fire and then can be deformed at will. It is also can use acrylic markers to create beautiful patterns on glass.
I chose monster clay as the main medium and glass as the auxiliary medium.
The main reasons are:
•I have a lot of experience with monster clay, so I am already very familiar with the temperature and characteristics of monster clay. Thus I’m familiar with making sculptures.
•Blowing monster clay with a heat gun creates the effect of a candle dripping wax, which is exactly what I needed.
•Glass as embellishment, just can reduce the sense of heavy soil, and enhance the composite of multiple media.
Process
I simplified the design by keeping only the minimalist lines. I am very happy with this step because it helped me to get a better idea of what the inner structure of the sculpture would look like.
Based on the media study, I chose monster clay as the main medium. Then I started to fill it.
However, the monster clay is too heavy, and when I just put it on the sculpture, it will make the sculpture a little bit deformed. So next time I will build the wire frame more firmly.
I wrapped the perimeter of the wire frame with cling film and tape to give the sculpture a more concrete figure.
The hole in the sculpture was then sprayed with some blue-violet mix to add some mystery to the sculpture.
In this step I was adjusting the overall shape of the sculpture and adding some details (adding new flowers and a muscular texture left by the liquid)
Then I started the glass mixing, which means mixing another color of glass on top of this one.
The final product is the glass that looks like this. But this step I think is the hardest.
The glass needs a lot of temperature control. If it gets too hot, it softens and then the whole shape is weird. If it's too cold, the glass will break. And I was forced to make a new glass heart because of this fragile quality.
Mixing color
firing
FelisaGan
See from glass
Monster clay, glasses, Acrylic
20cm x 50cm
2024
The purpose of this work is to represent a creature in my fantasy. It has an eye that can see the future and a glass heart that can see the past, and the fragile aspect of this medium presents the idea that "people will be stung by the truth of the past." Monster clay was used for the main body because it could give the appearance of a candle melting, thus delivering a dramatic effect. Through this work, I hope to make the audience curious and want to know the story behind this character.
