wire, mod roc and plaster sculpture workshop

This technique was explored during one of the workshops we had during this project: We started off by making a simple wire base, I had used thicker wire for the main body knowing it would later have to support the shell I was going to attach to it eventually (pic 1). I found it easier to shape the thicker wire due to the fact I had a better grip on it, as I later had trouble trying to shape the thinner wire, it being a little tougher to shape as I had to use safety gloves to make sure I didn't end up harming myself with the sharp ends of the wire. 

I then began to wrap chicken wire around the body to help build it up more for a much more stable main body (pic 2), along with attaching more of the thicker wire through the chicken wire for more stability for the eyes (pic 3), as when I had tried to attach it before they would droop or fall off, once the chicken wire was secure. I began working on building up the shell with thin wire too, attaching it to the main body to secure it nicely before adding chicken wire to the shell to build that up like I did with the body (pic 4)

 After completing the skeleton for my sculpture, I was then able to use mod roc (A bandage like material made with plaster, starts off dry but is versatile once water is added to it) this part of the process was safe, compared to using the pure plaster, as we didn't need any kind of protection as it washes off with water very easily.  Once dried it was then time to build it up further with plaster: before this we were given a safety talk about wearing a protective mask during the process of mixing plaster as it was very harmful to breath in, as well as wearing gloves because unlike the small amount of plaster in mod roc this pure plaster would have gotten stuck on our hands and can also cause slight irritation to sensitive skin, so I had to wear gloves to avoid potential irritation. The plaster took a lot longer to dry than the mod roc so had to leave it alone for 24-48 hours till it was finished drying.

If I had the chance to do this experiment again, I would like to have the chance to sand down my sculpture, as clear in the photo it looks rather rough and unrefined, so then I could have also had the chance to paint over it too.  

Overall, however I am really happy with this piece and this new process i discovered and got to have a go with: I would like to use this process again in the future, if given more time to do so as I really enjoyed it and loved the outcome