MAGGIE LEE
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lost sock vase
LOST SOCK CASTING
solid bronze vase

This project started as a series of experiments using ceramic shell investment casting --aka lost wax casting-- to capture the fluidity and surface quality of textiles in metal. A pair of socks, an unglamorous item, was transformed into gallery objects by the traditional casting elements of the soluble, non-soluble, and combustible. 

I worked with the Brooklyn-based New York Art Foundry to develop a casting process specifically for textile vessels. 
casted from real socks
pouring bronze
Molten bronze is poured into a ceramic shell mold at the foundry.
NY Art Foundry
lost sock vase
lost sock vase with flowers


PROCESS

1.  Construct cardboard form.

2.  Stretch sock over cardboard and waterproof it.

3.  Dissolve cardboard to create hollow a form.

4.  Sprue and gate with wax.

5.  Coat with layers of ceramic investment and sand.

6.  Fire mold in kiln. Investment hardens while wax and textile burns out.

7.  Cast molten bronze in mold cavity.

8.  Shatter investment and cut off sprues.

lost sock casting process
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ML 2017