PHYSICAL | Rebeccarosenft

P H Y S I C A L P R O C E S S

I sketch my original idea and work hunched over my trusty JH Rosberg jewelry bench from 1901.

A collage process called kit bashing is used to convey a narrative. Burnable objects find their way into the mix to soon become precious metals.

I cut into and carve away the objects, altering them as drastically as needed to achieve the desired look, shape, and story. A mashup.

Found objects of all sorts are cut up and pieced back together forming a sculptural collage.

I make a mold and use a scalpel to carefully cut it away, creating a negative space.

Molten wax is injected into the mold, creating a wax positive.

A comparison of the plastic/wax positive and the wax positive.

I dissect the wax and carve into it, making deeper, more deliberate shapes with x-acto blades, dental tools, and files.

Filing the wax. I use melted wax, glue, knives, candles, and dental tools to alter the wax positive.

Gutting the wax. I spend the majority of time re-carving the wax.

Making the detail a little deeper, more pronounced.

Reassembling the band.

Cleaning the wax.

A side by side comparison of the pulled, untouched wax, and the carved wax. The differences may look slight, but is more evident in person.

Gating and sprueing the wax, in preparation for casting.

The gated piece on the flask base.

Vacu-filming the piece. Vacufilm is highly toxic and flammable, yet helps keep air bubbles off of the piece.

I place a perforated flask around the piece, and prepare the investment.

I cover the flask with a fitted, heat sensitive plastic that shrink wraps when hot, sealing the perforated holes shut so the investment doesn't ooze out.

I apply constant, mild heat to the shrink-wrap with a hair dryer. This is the moment during the process I begin working with a respirator.

I weigh out the investment, a fine powder that activates with water, encompasses and hardens around the wax piece, similar to plaster.

Investment is highly dangerous. The fine crystalline silica particles of the powder are carcinogenic and can harden lungs if inhaled over time.

With a graduated cylinder, clean water is accurately measured out to the ml. The amount of water is proportionate to investment used.

The dry investment is mixed into the water.

Vacufilm provides an airtight surface on the wax. If the investment mixture has air bubbles that cling to the wax, unwanted metallic pockets will cast too.