Large size ceramic sculptures

[OljaArt]

Hello everyone
I created recently this almost 2 meters large ceramic sculpture. Since the form consists from many smaller pieces I was able to create this large size format but I would like to keep working on big size figures and I don't want every one of them to be chopped. If possible I would like to avoid making molds, simply sculpt and put it directly to kiln.

So I was wandering if you can give me some advises on what type of armature I can use that can go into kiln and how to create this armature in order to follow shrinking while drying or baking? 

Thank you so much in advance    

[Denice]

The only armature I could think of is one made with styro foam that has clay bars interwoven inside the structure.  You would have to melt the foam before it did much  very  much drying or the whole sculpture would crack into a million pieces.  The clay bars act as architectural structure to keep your sculpture from collapsing  or twisting.   You can make some small pieces and try this technique before you jump into a large sculpture.    Denice

[Stephen]

Are you planning on hollowing out the piece? I think you are also going to have to either dry for an extremely long time or hollow it out or both to make it work. 

[OljaArt]

23 hours ago, Denice said:

The only armature I could think of is one made with styro foam that has clay bars interwoven inside the structure.  You would have to melt the foam before it did much  very  much drying or the whole sculpture would crack into a million pieces.  The clay bars act as architectural structure to keep your sculpture from collapsing  or twisting.   You can make some small pieces and try this technique before you jump into a large sculpture.    Denice

Hi Denice,
Thank you for your reply.
Can you please clarify what do you mean by "styrofoam that has clay bars interwoven" The only clay bars I know of are the ones for polishing the cars, I tried to google it out but I couldn't find anything different then the car ones. I'm really curious now

I already tried regular Styrofoam but cutting it out of half dry piece proved impossible, I also tried melting it with hot wire but the heat from inside dries the clay too fast and than it cracks :/

It might be an option for simpler forms though

 

[OljaArt]

6 hours ago, Stephen said:

Are you planning on hollowing out the piece? I think you are also going to have to either dry for an extremely long time or hollow it out or both to make it work. 

Hi Stephen,
This is the reason why I'm looking for the solutions for the armature, so the sculpture will be hollow inside  

Sculpting full form and than hollowing is a good option if the shape will allow it but I don't think it would be possible on a 2m human figure.

[neilestrick]

Any sort of rigid armature will cause problems as the clay dries and shrinks. Anything that is soft enough to allow the clay to shrink has limitations on how much weight it can hold. Loosely crumpled newspaper provides good support in many situations, and can compress as the clay dries. You should get as much of it out of the sculpture as you can before firing, or you'll have a kiln room full of smoke. I've had more than one school think their downdraft kiln vent could deal with  smoking newspaper and end up with the fire department at the school. Even an overhead vent hood will only be able to deal with so much. A small amount of paper creates a lot of smoke.

If you need a strong, rigid armature, then you'll have to get the piece off the armature before it shrinks too much and cracks. If you're smart about your building process, you won't need much in the way of armatures. Build pieces, let them set up to leather hard, then join them, using armature support just long enough for the joints to set up.

[Denice]

You would make bars out of the same clay as a support system kind of like girders in a a building.   The styrofoam is melted with lacquer thinner,  it has been a long time since I have seen it done.  So I am not 100 percent sure on the lacquer thinner .   Completely hollow sculptures  I have seen are either plastic,  plaster or cast metal like bronze.  In a metal sculpture I have seen the supports cut out and ground smooth.   I have made plaster sculptures in the past,  I don't like working with plastics and I didn't stay in sculpture long enough to advance to bronze sand casting.  Have you been to a library,  you can  find some good books on sculpture.  I would always find the books I thought suited the way I worked and them buy them for my personal library.    Denice

[C.Banks]

Tip Toland has some videos if you aren't already aware of her.

Maybe something she has out may help.