dimensionalsurfacesbryre

[dimensionalsurfacesbryre]

Revised abstract:

Exploring steel and rust as a medium, I will create a collection of works that tell the story of the Christian gospel. This story will be communicated using the contrast of lament and hope. Lament will be represented on my surfaces using rust - a symbol of decay and degradation. Hope will be communicated by the contrast of bright, clean metal.  The three final pieces will be informed by three different Biblical passages that tell stories of lament and hope. These passages of Scripture each include the symbol of a ring. The passages will be communicated through typography, as well as the dimensional forms of ring shapes. The final pieces will be contextualised in a wedding, having a thematic focus on relationship and the gospel message, which a Christian wedding is centred on. 

[dimensionalsurfacesbryre]

Reflection:

I really enjoyed the journey of this concept. I enjoy the openness of the ESD briefs because there's space to take the project any direction you want. Not putting parameters around myself means that I can really go on a journey where practice informs research, and research informs practice. I love coming up with concepts, and considering how I can communicate or represents these concepts through media. 

I do feel that my pieces are maybe too abstract on their own. I didn’t want to be too literal, because when you do that a work of art often loses it’s mystery and people sort of have their thinking done for them. But I tend to work very heavily from a perspective of what I understand - my faith, the concepts and jargon of it which are very familiar to me, but very foreign to others. This is a good exercise in articulating these concepts, as sharing them is a very important part of being a Christian! But I think it’s clear I need to grow in this. I did, however, enjoy the opportunities in class to share a bit about my faith. Through these class times I also realised that often presenting a concepts forces you to put it into words, which I found really clarified my direction. 

I love that the journey wasn't linear, and it was informed by outside events, such as my own wedding, and visiting the sculpture park. Design is the communication of many things which are not design, so good design should be influenced by things that aren't design. 

If I created the pieces again I probably work more with natural rusting techniques rather than patination - there’s something really interesting about the way you can’t really control it, and that links in interestingly to wabi sabi aesthetics/theories as well, which is a path I could have explored further. 

I also would have payed more attention to the metal that I was using, putting more time into sanding it back and cleaning it well to get a very finished surface. 

It also would have been good to create a final piece prototype earlier. While I think it’s important for research to inform practice and vice versa, I think that my emphasis was very much on the thinking for a large part of the project, and it was very concept heavy. This led to probably missing some opportunities I could have had to explore some more techniques further - such as welding - if I had experimented more in depth earlier on. 

I enjoyed learning some new processes, particularly using the tools in the 3D lab - the band saw, metal guillotine and welding!! Throughout the whole of ESD I have identified a real love for working with metal, which has been an exciting development in my personal practice. I hope to continue to make with metal, to create work that articulates my faith - to get better at articulating my faith, and finding a context that my work sits in. I’ve really enjoyed the ESD paper, and gotten heaps out of it!

[dimensionalsurfacesbryre]

In context: the altar at my wedding

The Bible, though written over thousands of years, with many different authors and writing styles, is the cohesive work of God to tell one story to humanity: the story of the gospel: the good news of Jesus Christ.

As Christians, then, our lives are also a reflection of the gospel message. Marriage is a commitment we make that tells this same story. Marriage, a covenant of commitment, is an image of God’s commitment to us - a love that never gives up, a relationship that lasts eternally. 

My rings sit in the context of my wedding as another way of telling the gospel story, joining in the narrative of marriage. 

The wedding ceremony is actually a sculpture park, and guests are invited to check out the sculpture walk after the ceremony. They could take a closer look at these pieces and let them speak to the story they’ve just seen play out in front of them. I imagine them hanging together from the roof of the altar structure. 

[dimensionalsurfacesbryre]

The collection: rings of lament and of hope. Naturally, over the shape of creating in different forms and deciding what I did and didn’t like, I ended up with a collection of three different shapes. I didn’t expect this, but I’m really happy about how the three pieces fir together, and how they tell a story. I feel that they are cohesive - in typography, medium, rust application, and themes. But they also add on each other and extend a narrative - which is essentially a telling of the Gospel message through three different Biblical rings 

[dimensionalsurfacesbryre]

Wedding Band: Hosea’s Wife

This ring is also about forgiveness. A wedding band, an unbroken circle used to represent commitment. This circle has a protruding weld on one side - showing a circle which has been broken, but which has been joined back together. 

In the book of Hosea, the relationship of humans to God is again symbolised using a marriage. In the parallel, we are Hosea’s wife, who was unfaithful to her husband, breaking their relationship of trust. Like Hosea’s wife, we are unfaithful to God, choosing ourselves over our creator, broken ways over the ways He has intended for us, hurting ourselves when He desires only good for us. God is represented in the story by Hosea. Hosea forgave his wife for her unfaithfulness, though she had broken his heart, and restored her to himself in commitment again. 

There is lament in this story, in our failure to love God. This lament is represented by the rusted inner words from Hosea ‘Your love is like the morning mist, dew that disappears.’

But the hope in this story is the undeserved and unending forgiveness of God. The bright outer words of the wedding band read ‘I will betroth you in faithfulness, love and compassion’ Hosea 2:19

Unlimately, this forgiveness came through Jesus. Forgiveness from God could not be freely granted, for there is a price to be paid for sin, an amends has to be made. The price of sin is death - every person who is disconnected from God by their rejection of Him dies. Beyond a physical death, any person seperated from God because of their sin dies spiritually, too. For God is life, and so to be separated from Him is death.  This spiritual death is called Hell. 

God payed this price, so that we wouldn’t have to face the consequences of our own brokenness and sinfulness. He doesn’t desire for the people He made and loves to be seperate from Him, because He loves us. God, Jesus, payed the price by dying our death for us, on the cross. And because the price has been paid, forgiveness - and life eternal with God - is free to us. Free as a gift - only needing to be received. Receiving is to choose to believe, to choose to trust in Jesus as Lord- as a God worth loving - like we were created to do. 

[dimensionalsurfacesbryre]

Signet Ring - The Prodigal Son

This ring is about forgiveness. The Biblical story of the prodigal son tells of a son who disrespected and abandoned his father to go live a selfish and broken life. When the son reached the end of his road, and realised he had nothing left, he returned to his father with these words ‘Father, I have sinned against haven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Please hire me as one of your servants. 

But the Father’s response was to run towards his son and to embrace him in arms of forgiveness, rejoicing at his return. ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Bring a ring and put it on his finger. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found’

This Biblical parable is a story about god’s forgiveness for us. We are the son, turning our back on God. But when we return, we are received in open arms. The lament in this story is our brokenness - represented in this ring by the rusted words ‘ Father, I am no longer worthy to be your son’. But the hope in this story is the free forgiveness of the Father, represented by the bright side of the ring, with the words, ‘For my son was lost and is found’. The ring is curled into the shape of an embrace, our brokenness, wrapped up in the forgiveness of the Heavenly Father. 

[dimensionalsurfacesbryre]

Engagement ring - the Bride of Christ. 

This ring is about the hope of heaven: a day of restoration, when our brokenness and failings will be no more. Biblically, the day that God’s people will be with Him is symbolised as the wedding day of the Church/God’s people and Christ. 

This story is represented by an engagement ring - a ring which is a promise of something to come. 

There is both lament and hope in this story of engagement. The lament is our current state - we are a broken people. We fail to love as we should, we are sinful, we are prideful. Our world is very broken - war and famine, disease and disparity. The brokenness of our present reality is communicated by the decay of rust on the metal. 

The hope is in the promise - the promise from God, of Heaven. in that day, our failure will be wiped away. The brokenness of the world will no longer have any power. We will be made beautiful. The hope is represented by the shining metal, sanded back through the rust. The words on this portion of the ring sparkle, like the diamond on an engagement ring.

The scripture I have chosen to represent this story is from Isaiah 62. 

“No longer will you be called ‘Desolate, Deserted’, but you will be called Hephzibah - my delight is in her”

- these words are from a passage which is about the day when God will restore his people. 

[dimensionalsurfacesbryre]

Applying a clear lacquer spray to keep the pieces from rusting further or rubbing off, preserving them

[dimensionalsurfacesbryre]

The patina dried very thick, and the type was very hard to read, so I applied a layer of baking soda and sanded down the rust to make it more legible. I also did natural rusting on one piece, and while I'm quite happy with the strong contrast of rust vs clean in the patination, I like the natural degradation and forms of the natural rusting, it’s a bit more subtle and interesting in the colours formed

[dimensionalsurfacesbryre]

Using a light green patina to paint the inner sides of the signet ring, and cover the engagement ring

[dimensionalsurfacesbryre]

Spot welded this piece as I just wanted a simple join

Practicing big welding for the Hosea’s wife ring. I want the weld to be very chunky and obvious on this ring, to show a relationship that was broken which has been joined back together - by forgiveness. the ‘unbroken circle’ of the wedding band broken, and then healed

[dimensionalsurfacesbryre]

Twisting my pieces

Forms ready to weld and rust

Finally looking like something I could be happy with!!

[dimensionalsurfacesbryre]

Etching the plates in the acid bath - 60 minutes, checking every 10 minutes and rinsing off to stop foul bite forming

Wiping off the layer of acid/hard grounds with turps

cleaned pieces! Unfortunately the acid is quite weak at the moment and in need of changing, so the etch isn’t as deep as I would prefer it to be. But still looks good and works! The metal probably could have done with a bit more attention when being sanded.

[dimensionalsurfacesbryre]

Sanding the pieces down, 

Covering the metal in hard ground on the hot plate (the grounds must be heated in order to smoothly spread)

Etching the typography onto the plates. 

I’ve known what Biblical passages I want to make these pieces about, but I spent time looking at them again in my Bible to choose what snippets of the verses can be used to communicate the ideas in a few words. Working at this scale there isn’t much space for many words. Ideally I would be working at a larger scale, giving more canvas for typography, telling the story more in full. However, I have the ability to be more symbolic/abstract with less words, which maybe makes the pieces more intriguing 

Chosen verses:

Signet ring: Prodigal Son

And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ Luke 5:21

Lament side - ‘Father, I am no longer worthy to be your son’ 

But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. Luke 5: 22-24

Hope/Forgiveness side - ‘For my son was lost and is found’

Engagement Ring: Hope of heaven/restoration

‘No longer will they call you Deserted,    or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, [my delight is in her]    and your land Beulah; [married] for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married.’ Isaiah 62: 4

Lament portion: ‘No longer will they call you Deserted, Desolate.’

Hope portion: ‘But you will be called Hephzibah, my delight is in her’

Wedding Band: Hosea’s Wife

Hosea 6:4 “What can I do with you, Ephraim?    What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist,    like the early dew that disappears.

Lament side: ‘Your love is like the morning mist, dew that disappears’

‘I will betroth you to me forever;    I will betroth you in[a] righteousness and justice,    in[b] love and compassion. 20 I will betroth you in[c] faithfulness,    and you will acknowledge the Lord.’ Hosea 2: 19-20

Hope side: ‘I will betroth you in love and compassion, in faithfulness’

[dimensionalsurfacesbryre]

Final Sample 3: Hosea’s Wife 

I will create this last - ring shaped so that I can weld it together and etch on this 

[dimensionalsurfacesbryre]

I also folded this metal strip into a twisted ring - the twist here symbolic of the embrace of the father in the story of the prodigal son. 

‘“Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.’ Luke 15: 18-20

I loooove the dimension of this sample. To complete it I need to etch both sides, and allow one side to rust. I then need to weld it together. The inner side will be the rusted words of the lament - the son’s failure - it’s okay if these can’t all be read, as the focus is on the bright outer side - the words of hope from the father. 

I will need to etch it first, then rust/lacquer, then twist, then weld. 

Final sample 2: The Prodigal Son

[dimensionalsurfacesbryre]

Used the drill press to create a hole in the middle of the plate, and then used the nibbler to cut out the inner ring. It looks better with more form, but needs refining. Maybe sanding of edges, and hopefully the rust and etching will give it some more depth

Final Sample 1: The Bride

Make this beautiful so I can tell the story I love. Can always redo need be.... with my other plates or with a larger one