Waxing the Elephunt

ELEPHUNT 2 John Currie Bronze 11.5" x 4.5"

I love working in wax; almost all of my sculptures were originally created in it. I especially love the way I can play with the surface of it, melting it, swirling it, making waves that dance in the final bronze. I enjoy the play of the light across the surface of this Elephunt, seeing the sparkle of the highlights ripple from trunk to distant toes. This is one of a pair of my leggy pachyderms, my Elephuntuses.

I often tell people that cast bronze sculpting is 20% sculpting and 80% metal shop. 'Tis true. Once the wax work is done, a firing mold is made and the entire assemblage is given up to Hephaestus at the foundry in hopes that the molten bronze will flow and be transformed into a sculpture. But. After the mold comes back, it must be broken off and all traces of it removed to reveal the rough casting inside. Then the cutting and grinding and welding and grinding and polishing and--oops, more welding--and grinding and sanding and polishing begins, followed by cleaning and applying the patina and final waxing. I can do all of that but I also sometimes deliver my waxes to Wes Jones and his very talented crew at Casting Creations MN to do all of the heavy lifting. What I get back is the cleaned bronze, all traces of its difficult birth removed, ready for final polishing and patina.

No matter who does all of the labor, I end up with my hand-rendered creation, every wax ripple now permanent, every Victory Brown nuance captured. And then another piece begins.

© 2010 John Currie