Sculpture week 8

The 5-minute talk was on Nancy Spero (1926-2009), who studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, then lived in Paris till returning t0 the US in 1950. Her work, on paper and in installations, is largely about war and the abuse of power, and she's a pioneer of feminist art. The work incorporates Greek and Egyptian motifsas well as lingerie advertisements. Some is ephemeral - paintings on walls that then get painted over. "it's are because I say so", she said. Some of the works shown were Black and the Red 2003 - a Jacquard tapestry
and Maypole / Take No Prisoners - the heads are just cardboard with drawings on - a lesson in presenting 2D knowledge in a 3D context.While finding these images I spotted Cri du Coeur 2005 -The sculpture room shelves needed clearing of our work, so I set to with files on the hardened clay on my carved piece. Lots of dust - work outdoors and wear a mask -The rough "inside"
and a smoother "outside" - (not sure where "in between" is here)
My starting point "sketch" - what that form evolved from, once I got beyond 2D -
This "B" is modelling clay painted with pva to keep it from crumbling - later I'll paint it with acrylic and we'll use it as a doorstop - it's about 8" long. The other piece is twice that size and four times as heavy - it'll be fired and then glazed.

My "outdoor project" is coming together at last - here are the ingredients, sticks and paper. The primed sticks have been painted with silver enamel, which hardly shows - just a bit of gleam. The handmade paper needs dipping in wax.
Some samples of ladders - crocheted and with rungs of dictionary pages, then dipped in wax. Just as I was fiddling with the wax pot, the fire alarm went off - because the wax pot being used on the floor below had overheated. (Somewhere in the dusty strata of the treasure trove known as my workroom - though recently it has become more of a storeroom than a place for creative work - are the cut pages saved from the altered book project ... )
Simple seems to be best - this one is just doubled string, knotted, with the rungs inserted into the knots -
Just need to make some more paper and wax it; join the sticks at the base with other, short sticks; staple paper to the sticks; make, wax, attach ladders; find stones to weight it down - and hope for the best - nearly done!