Reflection of Inner Self

Posted by on Mar 4, 2019 in Mosaic Art, Narrative Imagery, Public Art, Sculpture, Sculpture Park | No Comments
Reflection of Inner Self, a solid foam and concrete form covered in a hand cut stained glass mosaic, 6ft x 29in x 29″, 2019

The exterior of our home may rarely reflect our true self. This colorful house is an expression of personal identity. Wouldn’t our neighborhoods be more interesting places, if for instance, each house would be uniquely representational of some aspect of its inhabitants’ personality? Wouldn’t it make things more fun if you could learn something special about your neighbor just by looking at the exterior of his or her home, a true extension of their complex innner-selves?

Detail of the hand cut mosaic.

I created “Reflection of Inner Self” to represents the inhabitant’s many layers. This house has numerous windows on various levels for the dweller to gaze out at the surrounding world from different perspectives and for outsiders to get a tiny glimpse into their neighbor’s inner being.

My 16 month old son loves playing around this whimsical sculpture.
Four Views of the Sculpture
A close up of one of the different angles.

Below are a few process shots including one of the digital concept sketches for the sculpture. First I hand sketched various ideas for the house, different shapes and proportions. Then I sketched a wraparound design for the form which I scanned into the computer and colored in. All of this was then used by my partner Kyle Cunniff to create a 3d model of my concept. 

From Concept to Reality

I worked on realizing my concept into an actual 3D form with Kyle. He put together the general shape for me. I then carved away the foam to create the funky walls and roof.

Kyle layering the polystyrene.

I used a sheer form to do the sculpting part of this project. I carved away whole sections of the four-sided form to create four additional walls, making this an irregular octagonal form.

The carved form before being covered in mesh and cement foam coat.

Once the form was ready, I fitted it with paper on all sides. That is where I hand drew my sketch from my original concept.

I felt like a seamstress doing this part. The sketching was fun, the paper fitting was the worst part of this project.

I numbered each section of the blue print, 16 in total. Then I chose my glass color palette according to my sketches and proceeded to hand cut all the shapes to create the glass armor for this sculpture. Even though I worked on top of my sketch, this was a free from type of project.

Finally, the mosaic part of the project.
Four section arranged, taped and ready to glue.
Kyle layering foam coat over the mesh covered form.
We applied two coats of foam coat prior to adhering the mosaic to it.
Me with my ‘Reflection of Inner Self’