Rachel Lee, Student Work

Title: Sailing

Materials: Wood, Resin, and Blue Ink

Dimensions: 3.5" x 3.5" x 2.5"

For this sculpture I was inspired by the memory of my first time sailing. Inspired by the smooth texture of the boat and the blue water, I chose to explore the relationships that could be made between materials, resin and wood, used to build boats. 

Per Laura's request, 

I carefully documented my process for future students who wish to make molds.

We were required to make a model of our idea. I used packaging tape and paper.

In order to make the resin shape, I had to make a silicon mold. Since the shape I wanted to create with resin was unique to my idea, it was not possible to purchase a store bought silicon mold. To make the silicon mold, I made a wood mold in the shape I wanted. I used scrap wood pieces from the wood shop to measure/draw out the panels needed to construct the shape I designed.

I then used silicone caulking with liquid glycerin mixed together to cover the outside of the wood mold.

Once the silicon set up, I removed the wood. I sprayed the interior of the silicon with mold release. The mold release needed so the liquid resin will not adhere to the silicon.

Next step, pour in the liquid resin. I added blue ink to the liquid resin before pouring. I made sure the silicon mold was sturdy before pouring in resin. I cradled the silicon mold in the wood mold and secured with cloth.

Immediately after pouring the resin, I placed the curved wood form I made, inspired by the memory, on top.

After allowing the resin to completely dry after 2 days, I sanded down the sculpture with grits ranging from 150 up to 2,000. There were a lot of imperfections because I didn't use a heat gun for the process, but I was able to smooth down all the surfaces by wet sanding the sculpture. To remove the cloudiness of the final product I used the Turtle Wax Polishing Compound and a microfiber cloth to make the surface of the resin shiny.