Necessity of Showing Bronze

[the2lees]

Greetings,

I'm a figurative sculptor of tabletop nudes who is just starting to cast finished pieces from clay models and have discovered that costs for bronze + mold making are in excess of $1500 Canadian for a piece approximately a foot tall. Since I am basically a graduate student with about ten pieces to cast, I'm wondering how essential it is for gallery presentation and studio tours to have finished bronzes to show. I hope all of you in the community can indulge my ignorance by answering a few questions.

1) Do most galleries only want/show bronzes for "standard" figurative works? Would winterstone and hydrocal be considered not (or less) gallery worthy and less saleable?

2) I'm thinking of showing some cold casts on studio tours or in a gallery and including pricing for a bronze with a statement like "also available in bronze cast for $3000." Is this often done and does it work, or do people want to see the bronze right there on display?

3) Do bronzes consistently sell? Not being a collector myself and actually quite a frugal person, I can't really envision paying a ton of money for a bronze. I just envision spending $1500 to cast a piece, pricing it for sale at $2500-$3000 and having it sit unsold for years while I starve.

In other words, should I bite the bullet, put myself in hock and do the bronze?

Sincererly,
Candice Lee

[fritchie]

Candice - In my experience, it is greatly preferable to have the finished bronzes, but you have identified the correct problems. Sales might not come immediately, so you will accumulate an inventory of your own work. Some galleries will accept hydrocal or similar work from new artists, but that's probably not as attractive to them as a more permanent medium, e.g. faux or coldcast bronze.

I know it's little comfort, but this is a problem all beginning artists face. Talk to artists in your own community if possible, to get a feel for the local situation. Local people also might know of special resources, such as casting workshops.

Generally, it's best to do as much toward your own casting as possible. You might be able only to make the molds, but even that's far cheaper than just giving the original to a foundry.

[iowasculptor]

I would look into creating your own furnace and casting them yourself, If you are a grad student you could probably have your school help foot the bill to build the furnace, I have seen some fuled by #2Desel fuel so it can be patched together. You can make an investment mold out of 50% moulding plaster and 50% sillica sand. Encase your wax in the mold and burn out at 1200F while hot bury in a sand pit and pour you molton bronze into your mold, thats it, of course then you have to clean it up but its a lot cheeper and you can get the bronzes you want. Good luck
Matt

[setmenu]

Obviously it depends on the complexity of the piece from a casting perspective ,
but well finished bronze powder shell resin cast sculptures are
a good way to go if you wish to sell your pieces to a wider audience.
Once the production tooling is done resin casts a foot high can cost
very little to produce compared to their metal counterparts.

Cast resin nudes are something of a staple in the commercial sculpture realm,
so if your pieces are of good quality and marketed correctly they will sell.
Generally there are more people who can afford to fork out a few hundred dollars
for a piece than a few thousand.

Of course resin is no substitute for the tactile qualities of metal, so it is definitely
worth considering casting at least some choice pieces.
Perhaps an initial investment in some resin castings for commercial purposes
would help generate funds to subsidize the bronzes.....


Good luck with your endeavors. :)

[sculptor]

hi candy

matt's advice is sound
also
you won't just save some coin, you'll gain a wealth of knowledge about your intended medium
long ago someone offered this sound advice
it makes it easier to get there, if you know where you're going
and
if you've a voice, you might want to finish your waxes and bronzes yourself anyway

show pix of your work?

rod
sculptor (http://sculpture.alturl.com)

[the2lees]

Thank you all for your advice. I have contacted several foundries and am starting the process of casting next week. It's an investment, but I am confident it will pay off in the future.

Candice

[fritchie]

Congratulations! You are right that this medium requires upfront confidence, but that will pay off down the line. Keep us up to date as you go.