Ciromancy

This is a series of work started in 2010. During my residency in the Mariani bronze foundry in Pietrasanta, I became fascinated by the materiality of wax, and the different techniques the wax workers could use. For example, to produce a large quantities of soft strong brown wax, the guys that put the runners on the large waxes would pour molten wax into a bowl of water, then with oiled hands they would grab the lump of hot congealing wax and nead it into a sticky warm paste, which they then used to stick bamboo runners onto the waxes.

I copied them, and through this discovered a way or generating interesting shapes which I would then use as starting points for new maquettes. Post 21 of my blog, half way down this page: http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/single/578094/0/3/desc describes this process.

Later, through talking to various other artists, I discovered that this is the same process as ciromancy, a form of divination where warm wax is poured into water to predict the future. In particular the Dutch artist Immanuel Klein told that in Holland at new year there is a tradition of pouring lead into water in a similar way. This lead on to some experiments, when back in the UK, of pouring pewter into wax.

Wax Experiments

Zoetic Omen

Zoetic Omen was developed during my three month residency in a bronze foundry in Pietrasanta, Italy in Spring 2010. I became fascinated with the materials of the bronze casting process and developed an almost shamanistic ritual of pouring molten wax in cold water, to create forms that tap into natural forces.

I was also doing a lot of reading about climate change and historical accounts of different societies’ responses to their over-exploitation of natural resources. The resulting sculptures investigate the duality of nature’s fragility and power.

Bronze, 2010

38 x 24 x 45 cm

Edition of 8, Edition still available

Nature’s Portent

During my residency at Mariani’s I became fascinated with the materials of the bronze casting process. I developed an almost shamanistic ritual of pouring molten wax in cold water to create forms that tap into natural forces. The resultant wax shape was then edited and distorted and cast directly into bronze. Nature’s Portent was then scalled up to create the larger piece ‘Zoetic Omen’.

Bronze, 2010

12 x 7 x 13 cm

Edition of 16, Edition still available

Burning Whalehead maquette

This piece is part of my ciromancy series in which I use a shamanistic process to tap in to insights and warnings. Whales were hunted close to extinction for their oil before the widescale drilling for petrolium – the oil was used for lamps and candlemaking. In this way, this work taps into my fears about over exploitation of the earths resources.

Pewter, 2010

4 x 3 x 7.5 cm

Edition of 50, Edition still available

Embriect

Embriect is the latest in the ciromancy series, but was actually derived from pouring pewter into water to develop sculptural forms that tap into either my nonconscious brain or other forces. It was created in the later stages of my last pregnancy and seems to embody new life emerging to investigate and question the viewer.

Cold cast bronze (shown in clay), 2011

19 x 10 x 20 cm