Cast Copper/Iron Matrix Buddhas, Ash, Poplar, Cocobolo, Hemp Rope, Sinew
What is the weight of wishing? This piece is meant to bring consciousness to the effect of ones wishes, an internalization…Users are asked to make a wish and place a penny upon the scales tipping them in one way or the other. The Buddhas were cast using a wooden statue as a pattern. The statue is one that I used to stare at and touch as a young child when at my Great Grandmothers house. It was one of the only things I wanted when she passed. The castings were made using a rubber inner mold with a solid outer mother mold. The wax patterns were then dipped in ceramic shell and taken to a community iron pour. The opportunity to introduce a copper and iron matrix was presented and I took it. We charged the cupola with a mixture of copper and iron. When cooled the castings came out as half copper and half iron. The arms of the scales are set into the hub using an experimental “dovetail” joint being held in place by pure tension. The resulting leaf springs support the weight of the suspended Buddhas.