Leah Robb » Creative Process

Category Archives: Creative Process

Cocaine as lover

Posted by Leah on 05/09/2018 – 10:27

This sculpture deals with love and betrayal.

It had been a long time since I’d worked with plaster, so I am in the process of remembering…

Model and form are one. The left arm has been left for later as there is a plan for this one that would make it too vulnerable to do now.

I’m using jute to strengthen the plaster.

Next morning she was ready to be strengthened. I turned her over and put more plaster and jute in the back of the mould because I will not be making a cast from it.

Yet another head bits the plaster. This time I wanted an outstretched neck. All will become clear…

Creative Process: Mould-making, casting and a melt-down.

Posted by Leah on 05/09/2018 – 09:04

Filed under Art, Creative Process

My up-coming exhibition deals with addiction and its effects on the addict and their close friends and family.

It is a tough subject and pretty painful. This artwork is proceeding slowly, but surely.

I won’t say too much but just let you have a look behind the studio doors.

Making the mould. I like to leave the mouth and eyes till last so the model doesn’t feel too claustrophobic too soon.

First time to make the plaster cast of the head. There is a split in the back of the head so that it will be possible to pull the cast off.

Apparently the caption should be, “I think, therefore I am”. The plaster head once finished.

This is kind of what I’m aiming at. I am just struggling to find these plastic spheres, so this is a photoshopped one. I found a supplier in the States, where I could get 4 spheres for $70. But to have them shipped by UPS would have cost $218! What??? So, that was cancelled!

OK. How do I get this out again? I had to make some experiments as to what barrier substance could cope with going in the oven. Vaseline could, but there were places where I hadn’t made enough of a barrier and I was about to get into a panic. But sawing open the mould helped 🙂

The moment when the luminous, translucent head had hatched! I had to form the ears by hand afterwards.

Hard to believe that cast could fit into that mould! The idea with the translucent head is that I want to put light inside to give the impression that there is internal activity that the outside world is not able to participate in. That is what drugs create – an affair with another reality.

Here is the translucent cast from the plaster mould. The ear has now been formed.

I had a meltdown – literally. Once I’d modelled the ears I put the head back in the oven on its side. But I hadn’t accounted for that Cerenit softens when hot and the head couldn’t keep its form, and broke into about 6 pieces! I tried to keep my composure, and with a bit of super glue, pieced it together bit by bit. A friend suggested a hair-dryer. But I realised the same thing could happen here, so I stuffed a blanket inside the head to keep its form. The ears are now sufficiently hardened and the head is whole again.

Den Friere udenfor Charlottenborg kunstgalleri, og Det Kongelige Teater

Posted by Leah on 11/01/2018 – 12:46

Filed under Art, Creative Process

Siden slutningen af nov 2017 har Den Friere dør stået på Kongens Nytorv 3-5. Værket havde overstået voldsomt stormvejr foran Den Frie på Østerbro, men med sit nye beliggenhed og med den forkerte vinkel kom et vidstød mod værket, der væltede det, og knækkede dørkarmen. Jeg foretog reparationen ude på pladsen med PU lim, skruetvinge, varmedunke og plastik betræk for at beskytte reparationen for det fortsat voldsommen vejr. Da jeg så vejrudsigten, kunne jeg se det nødvendige i, at søge ly et stykke tid da jeg også ville forsegle værket bedre. Jeg fandt ly under en port i Snaregade, og med hjælp af en trækvogn fra Charlottenborg kunstskoles skulptur-afdeling, fik jeg transporteret værket i sikkerhed. Det har været en udfordring at være udendørs kunstner i denne kontekst af regn, kulde og blæst, men at opleve, at indenfor 1 1/2 time fik jeg skaffet mig ly til værket, en trækvogn, nogen, der var villig til at hjælpe mig få værket op på trækvognen og nogen til at hjælpe få værket af trækvognen igen, så følte jeg mig beæret af, den godhed jeg mødte. Her er nogle billeder fra Kongen Nytorv og fra reparationen.

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Den Friere udstilling foran Den Frie og senere tæt på Charlottenborg Kunstgalleri

Posted by Leah on 11/01/2018 – 11:01

Filed under Art, Creative Process

Som er blevet tradition for mig, lavede jeg endnu en gang, en udstilling foran Den Frie til Kunstnernes Efterårs Censureret udstilling i slutningen af oktober 2017. Her er nogle billeder fra opbygningsfasen af værket, jeg ville stille udenfor, som en slags modspil til det, der foregår inden på Den Frie. Jeg kalder udstillingen Den Friere, og på døren er der skrevet “Censureret”. Værket indeni døren er en blanding af en maleri, der omhandler det indre skrig, når man føler, at kommunikationen mellem ens selv, og en man elsker nedbrydes, og man er magtesløs, samt en citat af C. S. Lewis, om sårbarheden i kærlighed. De kommer ikke med her, men jeg skrever igen senere, om udviklingen af hvad der er foregået siden værket flyttede til Kongens Nytorv 5, tæt på Charlottenborg kunstgalleri.

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Preparing the door, installing lights that turn on when the door opens.

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The spiral that keeps the wires together is made from a hairband I bought from The Flying Tiger.

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Standing outside my artwork/exhibition in a mask of ‘anonimity’.

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The anonymity relates to the fact the Censored exhibition, KE is apparently judged without their knowledge of the applicants, so I thought I might as well continue being anonymous for those who are not interested in my work.

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