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Peter Powning: Fragments
Most of the work in this show deals with
metaphor based on fragmentation and transformation: of the
body, heart, mind, spirit, nature, language, culture...many
things. The work involves a process parallel to what it
represents. First an object is created and to some degree
finished. It is broken; comes apart. The parts are transformed;
some into new materials, others by more processing - ordeals
by fire are involved. The resultant pieces are brought together
again in a form similar to the original but itself transformed.
Some work is surrounded by what I call a "nimbus"
a sort of unifying ground.
The work is meant to have the feel of the
artifact. An emotional artifact made solid. A cultural artifact
from some future/past, reconstructed or guessed at. Some
parts original others assumed. As we are fragments of our
times, these are fragments of my life. I have thought of:
"falling apart", "pulling myself together",
"the whole being greater than the sum of its parts",
cultural fragmentation, the beauty of the spirit that has
been tried and survived, the diaspora of the "modern"
family, homeostasis (the optimistic notion that the body
tends towards equilibrium once knocked off kilter emotionally
or physically).. the great mysteries.
Technique
The fractured pieces are first made in
clay or plaster. A mould is made from the original and then
a second generation original is made in clay or glass. In
some cases a rubber mould is made from this original. The
original piece is then broken in various devious ways. The
parts from the broken original are then either finished
in different ways or moulded and transformed into other
materials such as glass, concrete or bronze. All the various
parts are finished; all are changed by the process, some
shrink more than others, some bits go missing, colour and
texture vary. These diverse parts are reassembled and glued
together for the new piece. I do all the work in my studio
in New Brunswick where I have a small bronze foundry, pottery
studio, glass casting and slumping facilities and metal
and wood shops. This project uses them all. "Fragments"
has been a little too real as a metaphor for my working
life (read entire life) over the past three months. Keeping
track of all the broken parts of things, often scrambled
together, and dealing with all the various rubber and plaster
moulds, waxes for bronze and glass investment casting, patinas,
leaf, glazes ... has at times been maddening. Too many fragments.
Bronze is
cast by the "lost wax" technique in plaster based
investment moulds or by making moulds made with chemically
bonded sand from original patterns. In the case of the wax
patterns, a rubber mould is made from the original piece,
hot wax is poured into the rubber mould to make a wax replica
of the original piece and then this wax is encased in plaster
investment. The investment mould is steamed to remove the
wax and then fired in a kiln to dry it thoroughly and then,
while it is still hot, molten bronze is poured into the
mould to replace the void left by the wax. This results
in a bronze copy of the original piece.
Glass casting
is accomplished in a similar manner as far as the mould
making goes. Glass is melted in a crucible and poured into
a mould or a crucible is placed over the mould in a kiln
and heated until the glass runs out of a hole in the bottom
of the crucible and into the mould below it. The glass is
then cooled very slowly over a period of several days to
anneal it.
Raku fired clay.
This is a technique which involves pulling red hot clay
from a kiln and plunging it into a combustible material
for what is called "post-firing reduction". Interesting
effects are accomplished by this process which originated
in China, was institutionalized in ancient Japan and has
been transformed in North America from a traditional ritual
firing practise into a contemporary firing technique with
its own set of concerns and values.
Nimbus
24" d. Clay, glass and bronze. 1998
Cone
8" d. Cast glass, bronze and clay
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Lichen Reliquary
12" high, clay, bronze and glass
1998
Gong
24" d. Glass and bronze. 1998
Cuprous Arch Basin
14"d.Clay, bronze and glass. 1998
Pod
30" l x 17" w x 16" h.Clay
and glass. 1998
Zoid Reliquary
10" x 7" x 10". Concrete,
cast glass and clay. 1998
Sphere Fragment
8" d. Cast glass, bronze and clay.
1998
Cone
Alternate view
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