I loved the process of drawing with a needle on an uneven surface. I felt like my lines were looser. The less control I had, the less I worried about making clean, beautiful illustrations.

I have been toying with the idea of creating a kind of religion, or maybe a war against repression. All the little figures and creatures on the mace would be characters from these fictional stories. To me, religion is one of the few things that truly lasts, and it always changes with time. That idea gives me a framework to build something that feels both personal and universal.

One half of the sphere is inspired by the creatures of Noviadi Angkasapura. His way of combining unconscious pattern-making with mythical forms really spoke to me. It inspired me to draw out my own fears as creatures. There’s also a kind of Joan of Arc figure in the drawing, casting them out using the mace I was making.

The other half is inspired by a live drawing session at Gail’s. Repression is something we carry in our day to day lives. It’s a double-edged sword, it helps us survive, but it also weighs us down. Sometimes we wear it like armor, and other times it clings to us like a small, annoying creature. It affects how we interact with others and how we face the world. I was also inspired by a very flat, two-dimensional drawing I saw at the British Museum. That influence made its way into this part of the piece.

Drilling a hole

To attach a handle to the plaster mace, I needed to drill a hole in one part of the hemisphere. With such a thick piece of steel, it would have been nearly impossible to drill it cleanly by hand. To use a machine for it, I first had to build a foundation to hold the sphere steady. I used the CNC machine to drill a perfect circle into a piece of wood so the hemisphere could sit securely in place while drilling.

While doing this, I started thinking about how I will keep experimenting after the Master ends. Working with this kind of three dimensional steel form means I will need access to different studios just to do basic things like drilling a hole. That is something I need to seriously think about. I may need to find other ways to do this at home without any power tools.

To tackle the problem of the ink not printing, I tried using a water based etching ink called Caligo. The theory is that water attracts water, kind of like how damp paper works with water colour monoprint. It should help activate the ink and make it print better. When I was casting with plaster, I did my usual tapping to get rid of air bubbles, but the vibration caused the ink to move through the plaster and spill out a little, as you can see in picture 2. After it dried, this one was way harder to get out of the mold. The best method I found was to keep tapping it with a spoon to slowly loosen it. It is a long process, but it works and does not damage the cast.

Third Ball

I figured that tapping the plaster before it dries is what causes the bleeding effect. So for the third one, I did not tap it at all. There was still some bleeding, but not as much as the second one. I also tried placing a rod in during casting, just to see how hard it would be to actually make the full mace, not just a sphere. The big figures like the knight and the creatures came out better than the small ones. The bleeding affected the larger figures less, so their details held up more clearly.

This test made me realise that some parts of the process are just out of my control, and that is not always a bad thing. I am starting to appreciate the unpredictable parts more, even if they do not match what I had in mind.

First ball revised

After failing some and winning some, I wanted to see what I could do with the embossing only ball from the first cast. I started rubbing different inks and materials on it to see how the embossing would react. The best way to make the lines pop out was to lightly rub it with oil based Charbonnel ink. I am really glad I did not throw this one away after disliking it at first. It gave me space to experiment without pressure, and that led to something unexpected.

The fifth one used a polymer outer shell with normal plaster filled in. It would not come out of the metal mold no matter what I did. It was completely stuck. I hammered it so hard that it made the metal mold deform. The cast did not hold up either. One part was just gone, and most of the polymer plaster got stuck to the mold. This one feels like a failure, mostly because of my lack of patience. I was too eager to pour, so the polymer layer ended up far too thin. I was also too eager to crack the mace out, and I broke the cast in the process.

I can feel my temper getting shorter with each attempt, especially when the results do not match what I had in mind. I do not mind that each mace has its own characteristics, but not having a single perfect cast after five tries is frustrating. Still, I know I am working in unknown territory and dealing with materials I am not used to. I need to leave room for mistakes and try to embrace them. At the same time, I do want to master this technique.

I left the ball sitting in the mold over the weekend. The rust built up a lot more compared to the first cast. The Caligo ink spread everywhere. I cannot say I hate this unexpected outcome. It actually fits with my idea of a weapon of war being worn down by time. I also got frustrated and hit the metal mold a few times to get the plaster out. I think the impact caused some of the plaster to break off and stick to the mold instead of the cast. This ball looks more like a planet than anything else. It is really interesting to see how small changes, like switching the ink, can lead to such different results from the same mold.

Fourth ball

For the fourth one, I tried mixing plaster with a polymer base, basically a poor man's version of jesmonite. I wanted to see if using less water would make a difference. It worked really well for the upper half, but the lower half did not print out again. Some areas came out very polished, while others were much rougher. For the parts that did not print well, I rubbed some ink onto them to match the colour of the printed sections. Then I used a scalpel to carve out the main figure of the story. The rough carved texture of the figure under the sun made my skin tingle. With the smooth and rough textures combined, the mace feels like something a Greek marble sculpture might hold, standing against the wrath of time.

My Alginate Try

Sixth try

My first idea was to use alginate casting, since it is faster and more economical than silicone casting. First of all, I did not have enough alginate. The calculations were off, so I had to do two rounds of pouring. The top part just barely covered the mace, so it ended up very fragile and wobbly. I was rushing it way too much. I also did not register the mold properly.

The cast came out very misaligned. It looks like a strange rubik sphere. It was my first time really looking at and holding this beast of a sculpture in my hands. The weight and the dampness coming off the mace head made it feel like its own creature. Like some kind of creature’s egg that gives you mystic powers. It might not be a successful cast, but I had a lot of fun throwing it around. The play aspect of these sculptures is unlike anything I have felt with the prints I have made before. Prints are always fragile. A simple scratch needs the most delicate touch to fix. These plaster maces feel more like toys than art objects. Even when they break, it feels like it is meant to happen. The idea that I can break as many of them as I want, and just make more with little effort, gives me the freedom to destroy without guilt.

Noviadi Angkasapura (2019) 'Untitled #7.19' mixed media on paper (16'' x 11.5'')

Notes on the balls

I had a talk with Pete about this mace casting process, and we figured out that it might be because of gravity that one half of the sphere is not printing properly with oil inks. Basically, the plaster from the top hemisphere shrinks as it dries, which creates a gap between the dried plaster and the matrix. That’s why the ink doesn’t latch onto the plaster on one side, but it’s still able to capture the line embossing.

So this time, I’m casting each hemisphere separately. That came with its own set of challenges, how to register the hemispheres, how to cast the second one with a rod already in the way, how to make sure there’s no gap between the two, and how to hold the rod in place while casting the first half. All of these questions were answered through improvisation and a lot of labor.

To be honest, I’m quite bored of this sphere casting activity, and I’m running out of time because of the Millbank exhibition. It is nice to have a mid term goal to show all our work, but it also limits and pushes me in ways I did not expect. I cannot say it was a bad thing, but I feel like I did not rise to the occasion this time with this piece. If I had another chance to approach this problem, I would have slowed down between attempts. I needed time to reflect on what I had done and think of better ways to move forward, instead of rushing to the finish line. I also regret not making etchings or wood engravings alongside the plaster experiments. If I had something else developing at the same time, the pressure for Millbank would have felt lighter, because I would have had other work to show if this one did not go well.

I 3D sculpted this on an iPad, then 3D printed it. That was the easy part. The hard part was sanding it. It took quite a while, but I found out you can use plaster like filler to smooth out scratches and layer lines. I loved how it feels and how complete it looks with just a bit of extra care. It reminds me of Noguchi’s work. Simple, organic shapes that somehow make people feel whole.

First try

The first try did not go as expected. The ink did not stick to the bottom half of the mace. It left a perfect white embossing instead. Pete has told me before that plaster printing is quite a hit or miss process. Sometimes the results turn out better than expected, and sometimes they just do not work. I was actually quite disappointed with this. I put in so much work, only for the plaster to not print properly. My expectations were way too high, and the failure made me more frustrated than usual. There is also the issue of the steel reacting with the plaster and oxidising. Maybe I can use that texture to create something else.

Obviously I was going to make a silicone mold after the alginate failed. I have done this so many times I could do it with my eyes closed. But this is an abnormal shape to cast. I think next time it would be better to waste a little more silicone and just make a cube mold. That would make it much easier to register everything properly. This irregular shape was made just to save material, but it ended up causing problems later when it came to casting and alignment.

My plan for this spiky cast is to cover the plaster mace in a clear material. There are three materials I wanted to try, glass wax, gel wax, and resin. Resin was my first choice because it is easy to use, does not need heating, and has a long working time before it sets. Unfortunately, resin is not allowed in the college, and I do not have a space to work with it right now, so I have to put that idea on hold. Glass wax was the second choice. There are only two options when buying it, either 500 grams or 10 kilograms. I just prayed the 500 gram one would be enough. (Foreshadowing.) I was pretty anxious, because when the glass wax arrived, it did not look like enough, and the Millbank exhibition was only two days away.

I’m surprised I didn’t get burnt once when melting and pouring the glass wax. It actually went quite smoothly, but it wasn’t enough and about 30 percent of the mace didn’t get cast. There were also a lot of bubbles and layer lines where the wax dried between pours. It looked really cloudy at first, but I found that some white spirit melted the cloudy areas right away. The result was not great, but I’m glad I tried working with glass wax. It’s a really fun and brittle material. It feels like flint or obsidian, the way it breaks into sharp edges. It reminds me of how early humans made their spears. I wonder if that could be a separate weapon project, a clear flint spear?

https://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/divine-excess-possession-noviadi-angkasapura/4701

Acquiring the balls

After failing to make a sphere by hammering, I started looking for pre-made hollow metal hemispheres. Copper and zinc were way too expensive. I found one that’s meant for making spheres on rooftops. It’s made of steel. It might not be the best material for printing, but Brian assured me it can be polished enough to print white.

Polishing it took three days, working from 300 to 1200 grit. It felt really smooth and satisfying when it was all done. I was aiming for a mirror finish, but my patience got the better of me.

liquid hardground coating

Etching it

Second Try

The second coming of ball

The Cursed Fifth Try

3D printed mace head

Gooey Silicone

Glass Wax No Wax