Whenever I see patterns with lots of holes, I get a really uneasy feeling and almost sickening feeling, which is also known as trypophobia. I feel especially nervous when I get skin rashes because it feels like there is a cluster of unnatural holes or bumps growing on me.
To capture the feeling of uneasiness and the anticipation of fear, I decided to create a project that combines trypophobia (fear of holes) and trypanophobia (fear of sharpness).
My original idea was to create a hand sculpture with needles poking through it. After consulting with Ozzy and Maddie, I decided to use wax to create a mold of my hand and then pour concrete into the mold. This was the best way if I wanted to capture all the details of my hand. In addition, I chose to use concrete because I have never worked with this material and this class would be the best time for me to do experiments with it.
The process of using wax to create the mold was very nerve-wracking because I was scared to dip my hand in the hot wax. In addition, the pot was a bit too small so it was difficult for me to pour the wax evenly on my hand. I failed three times because the wax was distributed unevenly which caused the mold to crack and fall apart. The process of creating the mold took over 3 hours because each time the mold breaks, I have to melt it again and do the pouring/dipping process again. The temperature of the mini heater/hot plate was not high enough to melt the wax fast, each melting time is about 25 to 40 mins, depending on the amount of wax I used. I also spilled the wax everywhere because I accidentally knocked over the pot in the pouring process.
I just also very nervous when I was pulling my hand out of the mold because I was so scared of breaking and having to repeat the entire process over again. But the 4th time is the charm, YAY!
After creating the mold, it is time to cast it using concrete. Before pouring the concrete, I poked through the wax mold using the transparent PLA filament. Inspired by Mellissa’s angry project, I wanted to create the holes using PLA filaments so light can go through them.
After the concrete is done curing, I break the wax mold to take out my hand. I decided to keep some of the filament sticking out because it gives off this uneasy feeling. I also decided to wet sand it because it will ruin the features/details of my hand.
This was a fun project, BIG shoutout to Maddie and Ozzy for helping me!