March 2023
Medium: Bar of soap, modeling clay.
For this project, I had to create a sculpture that represented the idea of inside/out while using a combination of carved soap and modeling clay interacting with each other. The project also encouraged the use and experimentation of contrast in textures, shapes, sizes, and others. I was required to carve the soap to completely modify its original rectangular shape, and then add clay in a way that contrasted with the soap, all while maintaining an abstract/subjective theme.
For my process, I first did some research to decide how I wanted my carved soap to look. After researching I decided I wanted to carve my soap into a very organic, curvy, smooth shape/sculpture. To carve the soap, I started by tracing the base shape on the soap’s surface, and then I just started to carve with the tools, in a very free and experimental way, until it resulted in a smooth shape I was happy with. To achieve such smoothness, I went over the curves multiple times with the took from different angles. To create the holes, I started by carefully digging a hole in both sides of the soap, until they met in the middle. on the soap sculpture was ready, it was time to add the clay. I wanted a cracked texture and pointy, sharp shapes to contrast with the smoothness of the soap. I made a “snake” with the clay, first I created a long base shape, let it dry a bit, and then stretched it to obtain a cracked texture. I merged the “snake” with the soap by making it go throughout, in and out of the soap. Then, I added pointy spikes to the “snake” to contrast with the roundness of the soap. Finally, I photographed the sculpture from all angles to appreciate all the features of the sculpture,
