Casting Process: Molding pt 2

So, I tore the foamcore off the sides of my set plaster, used a rasp on the surface to make it nice and level so it sits soundly, and carefully flipped it over to reveal the clay beneath. Then it's time to dig all that hard work out of the mold... destroying the model is pretty fun though. My feet are in the image below, for a sense of scale.

Once the clay is all gone, I spent a while cleaning the inside of the mold with water and a paintbrush. Any residue left inside will end up on the casting, so I want it as clean as possible. I discovered a crap load of little airbubbles in the plaster... this is gonna be a pain later. That means that for every little hole in the plaster there will be a little bubbly wart on my casting that I'll have to grind down. Ah well, better luck next time. My splatter coat was probably a little too thick.

Once it's good and clean, I left it in the oven at 250*F for about 5 hours to dry it out. The thicker the mold, the longer the bake time. It probably could have used 7 hours. The plaster needs to be bone dry before moving on to the next step- it should be ready by Monday night.

The Sculpture 1 class is learning how to cast in fiberglass, and I'll be using this mold to teach them via demo on Tuesday morning. I'll try to get pictures of the actual casting process, but if I can't, there are a few here.

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Tomorrow I'm hanging a show on campus in Registration to benefit their ongoing Diversity themed art show.
My work will be up from 10/9-10/16
if you're around and want to see it. I had to write up a quick artist statement for the labels:

I am a sculptor, and I’ve been creating art and art objects my whole life. I’ve been trained in formal painting since high school, and have over the past few years begun to explore space in three dimensions. Now I try to combine drawing and sculpture by creating textures on the surface of my work reminiscent of painting, particularly in the stroke of Jackson Pollock.

My painting is highly process oriented and expressionistic; I am interested in the juxtaposition between action and reaction, or rather, cause and consequence. These abstract paintings are created in under an hour with no prior planning, which is why many of these works are painted on found materials such as cardboard and wood. There are no sketches, no pre-existing concepts, only the intention to express myself as quickly and as clearly as I can in a visual medium. There is no better way to describe the way I was feeling in a specific moment; these abstractions are my captured emotions.

In my sculpture, I am interested in investigating identity. I come from mixed cultural backgrounds and it's hard to find my own personal identity in any particular culture, especially in this American "melting pot." By blending the visual identities of multiple other cultures with America’s trite modern aesthetic in my art, I hope to create a facade of personal identity that is cultural, sexual, and religious. This mix of ideas creates a realistic combination of identity and hopefully offers the viewer a glimpse into someone else's world.