This piece was definitely an experiment. I have in the works a very large triptych, and some specific ideas that I needed to try to see how they would work. The main idea I wanted to try, was to build up a high pile of paper pieces that I would surround with some kind of barrier, so that it would appear to be bursting through the barrier from underneath, as if it couldn’t be contained. The idea grew as I pondered it- I decided I wanted to use wax, and fabric for the broken barrier rather than paper clay or cardstock.
I took a piece of black cardstock, crumpled it, and poured wax over it to adhere it to the canvas as well as build up the look and texture. I added some paper pieces and then more wax, fusing layers as I went with a heat gun.
Once the center was complete, I cut pieces of muslin to size and shape, dipped them in black wax, and added them to the canvas. Once again using the heat gun between layers, I added more wax (white, black, and clear) and a few more randomly placed paper pieces.
At this point, I was pretty close to being finished, but something was off. I had tried to make the line between the wax-dipped fabric and the canvas less stark by trying to blend the wax from the fabric to the canvas. It wasn’t working the way I wanted it too, so I held the canvas upright and used my heat gun once again to melt the wax so it would drip down the canvas. The end result is much more appealing- a central focal point that appears to be melting off the canvas in real time.
I love seeing how the white and black swirl around as the wax melts and falls.
Pretty messy and kinda weird, but I love it. :)
Very cool! Love it because it’s different.