‘Hakea Genesis’

From start to finish…

The work ‘Hakea Genesis’ explores an imagined mythology. The binary nature of the Hakea seed pods have long held attraction for me. The form and textures of the pods and the Hakea bush’s bark and sparse needle-like leaves are striking in our local coastal landscape. The enlarged pods of the sculpture, instead of seeds, bear the bas-relief forms of a male and female figures awakening. The work confirms my long standing lack of affinity with the biblical version of Genesis, and reflects instead a more universal truth that we are born of our environment and our ‘place’. As we mature, grow and learn we must then duly assume the responsibility of stewardship for our environment and all its systems, processes, and living flora and fauna.

 The bas-relief figures are cast in bronze using the lost wax process.  The bronze bas-reliefs are each welded into a seed plate, also of bronze, and set into the reinforced concrete pods. The final size of the sculpture is 68 x 43 x 75 (HWL cm) on a weathering steel plinth and subframe 80 x 60 x 60 (HWL cm).

The Concept Idea and start of the process..

As with all my work, it began with sketches and some doodling about. The idea for the work gelled quickly and the title ‘Hakea Genesis’ appeared at the outset for a change.

Commencing the sculpt..

The Hakea pods and the figures needed to be sculpted. The elements that would take the longest to create would be the bronze bas-reliefs so I decided early to sculpt these first. To save time I would also mould and create the waxes for the foundry myself. The waxes were beautifully cast using the ceramic shell lost wax process at Perides Art Foundry in Brisbane. Check out my other blogs about the ceramic shell bronze casting process or talk to me if you are interested.

Sculpting and Moulding the Pods

The pods were scaled up with the intention to create a generic more sculptural Hakea form without being too scientific in the approach, using plywood chicken wire and plaster. I final coating of clay was applied to allow finessing of the forms and final texturing. The clay forms were molded in plaster and fibreglass reinforced concrete was then hand applied into them to create the pods. GFRC is weird stuff to work with! It took some experimenting but it worked out well. This stuff is incredibly strong!

Welding and finishing the bronzes

The bronzes bas-reliefs were welded into cutout sheet bronze ‘seeds’. These were cut to fit rebates in the concrete pod shells. The finished bronzes were then chased and patinated and given a few coats of wax seal.

Completion of the sculpture

The finished sculpture consists of a welded steel supporting frame (inside the plinth), the Corten weathering steel skin to the plinth, the GFRC pods and the Bronze seeds complete with bronze bas-reliefs. The whole thing bolts together.

On Location

Here are some images of our ‘Hakea Genesis’ in a beautiful garden setting.

My sincere thanks to Janice for being there to assist and support me through the whole process. Also my thanks to Perides Art Foundry in Brisbane for their excellent bronze casts. I would also like to thank Sirromet Wines for making this exhibition possible.