The Making of The C.A.L.M Comedy/Tragedy Sculpture
The following pictures appear courtesy of Tullo Marshall Warren Ltd, and show the making of the original lifecasts for the C.A.L.M. comedy night sculpture. The lifecasting was just one small part of the sculptural process, with my colleague Andre Masters bravely modelling for the classic comedy/tragedy poses while I cast his face. Andre later took the casts and resculpted, moulded and recast them in a beautiful white marble/resin mix to form the finished piece. More photos of the later stages of the making of the masks will appear here soon. Please note, these photos do not constitute a comprehensive 'how to' of face casting, and beginners should not attempt to do face casting at home.
Our brief was to create a modern and realistic interpretation of the classic Comedia Del'Arte comedy/tragedy overlapping masks. For both lifecaster and model, the challenges of this commission were to capture the correct exaggerated expressions at the right time.

It's harder than people think to hold a static facial expression for more than a short time, and harder still when your face is covered in the cold casting gel, which both slightly numbs the senses and weighs down the facial muscles to alter the model's expression from what might feel 'natural'. For this reason, my fellow lifecaster and professional modelmaker Andre Masters was chosen to model for this piece. Andre's experience of the casting process made him the ideal model as he knew just when to pull the smile or frown for each lifecast, in order to capture this expression before the casting gel set. Andre was also ideal because his age reflects the target audience of the charity C.A.L.M., which fights against depression and suicide in young men.
After applying a light layer of Vaseline to his face, including eyebrows, eyelashes and hairline, Andre relaxes as I apply the cool casting gel to his face. At all times my priority is the safety of the model - making sure that his nostrils remain clear of casting gel at all times.

Please note that facial casting is an advanced lifecasting technique that for safety reasons should only be attempted by professionals who know exactly what they are doing.
As the gel is starting to thicken, Andre pulls the required facial expression and holds it as long as possible. This way, the casting gel sets capturing the smile without him having to hold it for the entire length of the casting session - which gives a much more natural result to the finished art piece and makes the experience much more comfortable for the model.

When I apply the outer layer of the mould, which is formed from plaster bandage, I continue to make sure Andre's nostrils remain clear throughout the second stage of lifecasting, and check on his wellbeing throughout the process. Even seasoned models appreciate knowing how things are going from 'the outside' and how much longer they will be inside the mould.
When the outer layer of bandage and lower layer of gel are both set, Andre wiggles his face gently to release it from the mould. Sometimes small hairs can catch in the casting gel if enough Vaseline hasn't been used, so this process can take a few minutes at the models own pace.

The smiling mould was much harder to release from Andre's face, as he still held part of the mould inside his mouth, where his teeth had been cast. So after running my finger around the outer rim of the mould to release the vacuum, Andre was left to gently ease his mouth off of the set casting gel and away from his face in his own time.

After being inside a face mould for a few minutes, the world suddenly seems very bright and loud.

Here, both artists inspect the work for potential flaws or problems. Both happy and sad lifecast moulds came out extremely well first time, so there was no need to repeat the process.

Since the second stage of the creation of the sculpture was done by Andre himself, it was important we were both completely happy with the moulds before filling them with resin, as well as getting the approval of our clients who were watching the entire process with fascination.

Andre had the pleasure of removing a few 'leftovers' from his teeth after the moulding process, but overall we captured his winning smile, which was designed to represent 'comedy triumphing over tradegy'.
Here we see the smiling lifecast mould 'in reverse'. It looks pretty strange as we're seeing the negative version of the inside of Andre's mouth sticking out from the inside of the mould. Luckily, Andre doesn't seem too traumatised by the experience!
The two lifecast moulds are held side by side for the first time. You can just make out the frowning, sad expression of the tragedy mask on the right, and the happy, smiling expression on the left.

Completely satisfied with the outcome of the casting session, we filled the moulds with a fast-setting resin for Andre to take away and resculpt, join together, remould and recast in a marble/resin mix to produce the finished work of art for the C.A.L.M. comedy night in Clapham, June 2007. The success of the event is guaranteed, with tickets having sold out already and a fantastic line up of top comedy acts due to perform. The finished double mask sculpture, signed by myself and Andre Masters, will be auctioned on the night to help raise money for C.A.L.M. which is a fantastic cause close to both of our hearts.
The finished piece!

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