Meadows Primary School Sculpture Project Part 1

This project involved working with around 90 year 5 and 6 pupils with a brief to allow 4 classes to contribute to a piece of metalwork to be displayed as part of an exhibition themed on the Industrial Revolution.

Each pupil produced drawings based on the theme and they transferred these onto prepared wax tiles which allowed them to experiment with different carving and modelling techniques. Back at my studio each class's tiles were assembled into panels which would be cast and assembled into a plinth for a display box.

The panels would be cast using a 'cold cast' metal system which uses fine metal powder (in this case iron) with a resin binder. This has a hardener added and is applied directly to the tiles as a paste which begins to harden in around 20 minutes.

The metal/resin paste is built up in several layers with the final layers reinforced with chopped fiber matting to add strength and stiffness. One fully set each cast is removed from the pattern and buffed with abrasive fleece which exposes the metal particles just below the surface and smooths off any sharp edges.