Plaster Mould

The idea of creating a plaster mould of my face simply came from a sculpturist called Choi Xooang. I have recently came across his work and felt highly intrigued. This process was not used in his techniques as he focused on sculpturing figures. This however, seemed like a much simpler process. Quick and easy. 

In each one of the faces you see above shows a great detail of different emotions. The texture and smoothness of the skin are done so delicately that it looks realistic. Realistic to the extent that we feel emotions when seeing the figures. 

As my FMP (final major project) is based around masks and hidden identity this work of art gave me inspiration to create a plaster mould. This process could only be done through using mod rock first. This way my eyes are shut in order for it to look like the emotions and identity are behind hidden.

Instead of me doing the mod rock on others I felt it would be more personal if I had someone mod rock my face so I asked someone of experience, my tutor.

 Before this process began I came in lesson prepared with Vaseline and without any makeup. The vaseline is meant to be rubbed on my eyebrows and any other growing hair on the face (a short mustache if needed) this is so that the mod rock doesn't stick and make it complicated to peel off. Before applying the mod rock strips I first cut a number of small strips for overlaying. When applying the strips they were dunked in luke warm water with its texture smoothed out in order to lay there firmly. When the full face is complete I had straws up my nostrils so that I was able to breath.

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I waited a week for the mod rock to try and then held my mask up to the sun to see for any holes that need covering. My overall shape was then created.
Preparing for the plaster mold I made sure to add mod rock higher than its original shape. This is so the inside would be surrounded with walls protecting the plaster from rising over. To get the mod rock into upright position I added blocks of clay on each side to make sure it would standd steady. I then filled a bucket with luke warm water enough for me and two other students as we all used the same process. We used two big plastic overall shaped spoons to add the mix into the water. This was needed to be done in a fast process. I found this to be tiring but I knew it would be worth it. When we saw what we call floating mountains, I then stopped adding the mix and started digging my hands in smoothing away the lumps at the bottom making sure the mix was all at its right depth and texture.

To increase the chances of getting air bubbles I tapped the mod rock lightly against the table a number of times. 

This is my negative. 

After I left my plaster mould to dry for a few days I then went back to it to sand out its texture and smoothen it out. I was suprised and pleased with my outcome looking so realistic.  I decided to leave a textured surface near its right eye to give that burnt skin effect. I did this to experiment and to make sure it was treated as an inidivual as I am planning on creating more of these.When looking at my outcome I feel creeped out and hope my audience will also feel this way when exhibited.