UAL/Clifford Chance Sculpture Award - Building the Buoy

After all the fun at West Dean creating the letterpress prints the time came to get serious about using them. I'd noticed my parents have a round garden table that is 1.5m in diameter so had mentally earmarked that as the template for the base. I ordered a big roll of chicken wire, 40cm wide, and set to work wrapping it around the table twice and 'sewing' the edges with wire (look how happy I am to be building something, little did I know at this point....).

Eventually I had a base, but quickly realised it was going to need a much more robust frame to support the wire which, in turn, would be supporting the paper. As soon as I rmovedit from the table it curled up on itself and didn't want to uncurl or cooperate in any way (there may have been some muttering about printmakers sticking to printmaking and not having stupid sculptural ideas beyond their skill level at this point!)

Luckily for me I have an amazing Dad who thinks in 3 dimensions, is rather skilled with wood, has lots of tools and lives right next door. I drew some highly technical diagrammatic scribbles on a piece of paper and turned up at his studio with it, a bundle of timber and a slighly rambling explanation from which he rustled up a fantastic armature which I could staple the wire to (and was left wondering what on earth I'd have done without him!). I've been constantly amazed at the weath of knowledge I've gained from this project and here is another example, I learned about how to make strong joints in wood and saw the tools used to ensure they're square, how to mark the wood and how to add dowels to fix two parts together. All stuff I'd vaguely seen before but never particularly paid attention to how to actually craft it.

One I had the frame it was time to get the sewing machine out and sew all the prints together. I'd done some testing and decided to use a zigzag stitch to resemble sail cloth. I was really pleased with the patchwork effect I achieved.

I then designed the top section and scampered off on holiday leaving Dad with yet more scribbles to deciper and was delighted to return home to this:

Part of the design includes the requirement for the top and bottom sections to be separated so they can be delivered (and to get them through the studio door!). It was time to play with some more wire to create the domed shape for the top of the buoy.

The final task was to complete all the stitching trying to achieve a patchwork effect while ensuring that none of the words are chopped in half. As the piece grew bigger and bigger it became harder and harder to control and get through the sewing machine but with a little patience and perseverance it's getting there.

Some big decisions were needed about how to tackle the top section. It'll stand over 2m tall so it needs to work when being looked up at. A lot of tape was used to plan it all out before being stitched into place. I liked this arrangement as it reflects the cage like design used in some of the real buoys.

Once the top section was complete the horizontal section where the base and the top meet needed tackling. I wanted this to contrast with the other parts and being round knew that the words would get cut off which I didn't want. I'd made lots of experimental prints playing with overlapping the word 'welcome' at West Dean using the same coloured inks so I decided to cut and collage these.

I used Japanese sumi ink marbling on some of the prints which gives a wonderfully watery effect. I kept the zigzag stitch the same as the rest of the buoy so the contrasting section ties in nicely.

Now I just have to figure out how to get the edges of the horizontal and vertical sections to meet neatly. Joining round things to straight things is always harder than it should be!