Upcycled Mixed Media Wall Sculpture, Handmade Art, San Diego Artist, Rusty Art, newest Abstract, Expressionist, 3D Sculpture, Art Under 100
Truly unique abstract wall sculpture with one of my signature styles. Lots of cool detail and textures, looks different from different angles. Perfect accent piece for a small piece of wall looking for some art work. Great conversation piece .... ask me about details on materials and construction and you can amaze your friends!
About This One of a Kind Artwork
Title: Copper River (Etude)
Size: 12" x 9.5" x 3"
Materials: EPS, cement, iron, copper, acrylics, patinas, oil stick
This sculpture is one of the study pieces (that where the "estude" comes from) I will typically make before moving to a larger sculpture with similar characteristics. I use these smaller pieces to work out design and color details. This one features a flowing line of individually cut and shapes styrofoam slices that are arranged from top to bottom (or side to side depending on how you choose to hang it). A nice blue-green blend is used as the base coloration which also features a textured surface and other highlight colors using oil sticks. The "stream" is outlined by a cement mixture that I apply using a squeeze bottle typically used for ketchup and mustard! newest This outline get a heavy dose of iron particles to make it stand out from the rest of the chips.
Lightweight and easy to hang; hangers included on back allow for horizontal or vertical positioning.
My Process and Materials (if you want to know more!)
I use recycled polystyrene (also knows as Expanded PolyStyrene or EPS) as the foundation for my sculptures. In addition to the environmental benefit, EPS is an insanely malleable material and it's virtually free (all of my friends love donating their used packaging material to my cause!). After I draw out the basic design ideas for a series of pieces, I prep a flat base for wall pieces or heavier weight base and metal armature for the free standing sculptures. The major construction is adding large and small chunks of EPS to these bases, shaping them with a hot knife and a torch. Then I add several different layers of different materials, including cement, texture acrylics and finally, a copper metal coating.
I'll then use a variety of metal patinas with some rust thrown in for good measure to finish the design. There will usually be some acrylic paint used in a background with additional textures. You will frequently see multiple layers of colors achieved by wiping off the top layers to reveal hints of the colors or the copper metal coating below. The entire sculpture is then coated with a polyurethane that seals in the final colors and protects it from fading.