A Little Sculpture Surgery

Progress is being made on the new work.  Actually, I’m nearing the end so it is time to make one crucial cut before I can begin to wind it up.

In order to complete the joints properly, I need to actually finish the surfaces which will be mated together.  For the proper “feel” that I want, there can’t be the mere illusion of a joint, there needs to be an honest-to-goodness joint.  In this case, that means cutting straight through the sculpture (as you can see) and physically removing a section or order to accomplish that.

Once finished with the interior surfaces, I reattach the missing section and tweak it until the two sides fit perfectly.  Large adjustable clamps help with this immensely, but I always seem to be working right at their limit of effectiveness.  Because none of the surfaces are ever parallel to each other, in many cases I’m relying on mere surface friction to keep the clamps from sliding off in dramatic fashion.  But after a time, and with great attention, the job is done.