Lost Wax casting
Words: Tous Mag editor | Image Credits: © Pomarius Collections |
Tous Mag discussed all things Pomarius Collections - an ongoing collaborative project - with Alice Andrea Ewing, project leader. Making bronze ‘direct casts’ of the produce of gardens, historical locations and ancient trees in the UK, Pomarius Collections creates direct translations of original organic specimen into bronze by adapting the Italian Lost Wax casting method. Read the full interview below.
Tous Mag: What are the origins of Pomarius Collections, when and where did it all begin?
Pomarius Collections: Pomarius originated from a residency I undertook with a walled garden in Suffolk. The initial works were a response to that site, a 200 year old kitchen garden tended and nurtured by the same family for generations. After recreating the project with a couple of other gardens, I decided to establish the series as its own studio in 2016. My general practice has a different aesthetic albeit still working in bronze and as a founder-sculptor - I felt the collections I was producing through Pomarius had enough clarity of concept to hold they own as a design project.
Tous Mag: What sort of pieces do you create in your studio, and is there an element that ties all the pieces together? Perhaps materials used, messages behind them, style etc.
Pomarius Collections: These works are all produced through an adaptation of the Italian or Renaissance Lost Wax casting process. All my work stems from my immediate engagement with the processes and materials of this casting method. Casting the works myself allows me to experiment within the various stages of process, something I wouldn’t be able to do if I was outsourcing to another foundry.
With Pomarius, the works are direct casts so the actual fruit or vegetable is ‘lost’ in the process, translated or captured in solid bronze. There are several stages to this but ultimately the forms of the original organic specimens are captured within a ‘ludo’ mould, with the produce itself burning away in a kiln.
The process of patination and the sheer variety of patinas that may be achieved with bronze is also something I enjoy playing with within this work.
Tous Mag: Where do you find inspiration for your designs?
Pomarius Collections: In the gardens themselves. I’m quite particular about the produce I select for a collection. It may be that I prefer the shape or look of a certain variety in a greenhouse or of a specific fruit within a harvest. Works are seasonal too, so that can drive a feeling behind a collection. Often speaking with the gardeners or landscapers themselves directs me most; their enthusiasm or highlighting of a particular provenance may dictate which varieties I choose to include.
Tous Mag: Is there an overall ethos to Pomarius Collections, perhaps one that incorporates sustainability?
Pomarius Collections: The works themselves strive to highlight the value of the locations they come from. That and the dedication of the individuals that maintain these places. I like to think of the bronze making explicit a value already held by the original organic produce. Orchards that have been preserved for centuries or saved and restored should be celebrated, it’s about the value you place on green spaces like these and the ethos they embody.
My particular casting process also requires the recycling of materials within the process. After casting, the old ludo moulds are crushed and used to create part of the new mix in the next kiln cycle. It feels quite organic compared to other methods of casting.
Tous Mag: Is there heritage or tradition behind your process of making?
Pomarius Collections: This Italian Lost Wax process can be traced back to 15th and 16th centuries. I trained under another artist in a very informal atelier style workshop. He had in turn been trained in a similar manner, and the line of education leads back directly to the Angeloni brothers and their RCA foundry programme established with Bernard Meadows. They were some of the first Italian bronze casters invited over to the UK to establish foundries here in the 20th century. Until then, British artists had been sending work over to Italy to be cast. Their method is that of the same Italian casters that produced the famous Renaissance bronze sculptures we know and visit today. I feel honoured to be a part of that casting lineage.