Cocoon

Bronze on marble base, 36"h x 10"w x 8"d,
Edition of 12

Cocoon began as a studio experiment. For the past ten years I have worked at our Community College as a Lab Instructor of Bronze Casting and have cast many of my own bronze sculptures. Several years ago I made a small wax with the idea of making a solid cast of the figure. The figure really didn't say anything and I wasn't happy with it. The wax hung around my studio until one day I took an old workshop rag and wrapped it around the form. It stayed that way for some time and as I contemplated it I began to understand the figure in a new way.

At first glance one might look at the wrapping as confinement, yet a cocoon is a protective covering. At times most of us have felt the need to wrap our emotions in a cocoon, deep within ourselves, until we feel it is safe to come out. During metamorphosis the cocoon protects the larvae until the butterfly emerges to become a new life. I see this figure as she is about ready to "fly".

I decided to experiment and dip the figure, wrapped in rags, into the investment slurry and attempt to cast the piece in bronze. I had no idea whether or not it would work but I had nothing to loose, just my time! One of the things that I love about the long process of casting bronze is the "serendipity" of the outcome. No matter how careful you may be in all stages of the process, as the bronze violently enters the ceramic shell it leaves its own signature on the work. Sometimes this is good, and sometimes it is not so good. This time I was happy with the way the bronze and I both created "Cocoon". After receiving good response from the small figure I decided to enlarge the sculpture for an edition of 12 bronze sculptures.