Balsa Wood Sculptures

Architect

Balsa wood, Masking tape, Paper, Hot glue

5.5” x 12.5” x 8.25”

This piece focuses on space, using cutouts to create an internal space, along with tape strands to define negative space in the piece.

Child of an Engineer

Balsa wood, Masking tape, Hot glue

5” x 7” x 6.5”

This piece focuses on repetition seen through the use of triangles.

I developed these two sculptures with the intent that they would be able to stand as individual pieces, but when combined, would form one cohesive sculpture. Individually the pieces are abstract representations of repetition and space, but when put together become reminiscent of an ultra-modern architectural structure.

In Process

To create the geometric paper elements of Architect, I first created sketches of the shapes I wanted and played around with the dimensions through trial and error. After measuring and drawing shapes out on printer paper, I taped the individual shapes together and folded them up to create three-dimensional forms. When I was satisfied with how they looked and fit together, I untaped the shapes and traced them onto thicker paper, cut them out as one piece, folded them, and then sealed the edges down with hot glue.

When experimenting on the walls for Child of an Engineer, I initially wanted the sides to be made from sheets of wood glue, but they dried unevenly and were too brittle, so I decided to create the walls out of sheets of masking tape instead to get a similar transparent surface that wasn't as fragile.

Comments

Textiles In The Landscape - Update

Feeling uninspired with my initial landscape concepts, I've revisited the idea in hopes of coming up with something more inspiring. The Oldest House Museum is the site of the longest continually lived on plot of land in town and has a rich history. Because of the number of structures built and destroyed at the site over the years, what is now the home's backyard used to have an outhouse, a different shaped fence, and possibly other structures that no longer exist. I think it would be interesting to plot out with fabric where these former structures stood. It would take a lot of yardage but I could sew shorter pieces together to get the length and shapes I'd need. It would take some communicating with the Oldest House Museum team and getting their permission but if they'd allow it, I'd like to pursue this idea. Another concept relates to creating pieces referring to each of the homes residents at one time. The oldest permanent structure on th...

Spring 2021 Natural Dyes

Madder Darker shade left overnight, while lighter shade was only about half an hour. The stitching on the darker one didn't do anything when dyeing which was a disappointment but the color is gorgeous. Onion Skins Both left overnight. The shibori fold on the left was made using paper airplane folds on fabric. Marigold The stitching done on the plain yellow didn't have an effect, but it did create a lovely texture. The pattern on the lighter yellow was made by wrapping and bunching the fabric around a PVC pipe. Indigo The top left one is indigo over turmeric. The original turmeric came out mostly white and disappointing, but the indigo overlaid made an interesting water kind of effect. Logwood There's another dye used for the pinks but I can't remember what the name is. I'll have to go back and add that in. These were all made using different folding techniques and two were wrapped around a PVC pipe. I wish I could get that interesting pattern from the PVC consisten...

My Favorite Chapters

Untitled Digital Painting But one of Turner’s favorite reds may well have been cinnabar— which he used in its manufactured form, vermilion, and which Pliny described as the result of an epic struggle by an elephant and a dragon. These two troublemakers were always fighting, Pliny recounted, and the battle eventually ended with the dragon—evidently a rather snaky one—wrapping its coils around its heavy enemy. But as the elephant fell it crushed the dragon with its weight and they both died. The merging of their blood made cinnabar. Finlay, Victoria. Color (p. 178). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. This short tale was entirely new to me when I read it. It created a vivid image in my mind, and as someone who loves folklore and fairytales, I was drawn to creating an illustration for this story. Untitled Acrylic paint on body, photographed T he British tend to think of woad as a war paint—a symbol of the fierceness of Ancient Britons before the Romans conquered the...

Allison Davis

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