17 Before a patina is applied, Campbell brush polishes the surface clean to get the richest colors. The chemical reactions Campbell uses to pull the colors out of the metal happen the fastest when the bronze is around 200- degrees Fahrenheit. with different aggregates of silica — from fine to medium to coarse. Campbell dips one of his wax molds into the slurry. “It’s like the consistency of a thick soup,” he says. “The first coat takes about a half day to dry. Then you add another coat.” While the second coat is still wet, the mold is rolled in solid silica sand. “The sand bonds or sticks to the wet slurry and gives you a layer, three layers with a fine silica, three layers with a medium silica, three layers with coarse silica and a final coat of slurry at the end,” Campbell says. The process is repeated with the other five pieces. Drilling holes in the hardened mold to allow the wax to escape, each mold is low melted in a 1,300-degree Fahrenheit kiln. “The wax melts out quickly, instantaneously,” Campbell says. Because the casting process was produced with liquid slurry, after the drilled holes are filled, the ceramic shell mold captures the finest, minutist details of the original sculpted wax pieces. Each ceramic mold is vented to allow off gases to escape dur-ing the pour when each cavity is filled with the liquid metal. With the majority of the work completed before the pour, Campbell invites friends and family to witness the dramatic high-light of the process. Assisted by fellow ECU BFA grad and Holden Beach artist Cole Kernstine, Campbell heats the bronze — 50 percent artist grade and 50 percent recycled — in an elevated barrel with propane gas at 2,150-degrees Fahrenheit. While his guests mill about the side yard of his foundry, the chatter is overpowered by the sound of the hissing propane tank. Kernstine, dressed in a suede hide apron, a visored welder’s helmet and elbow-length canvas gloves, repeatedly checks the temperature. They are waiting for nightfall before the fireworks begin. Their silhouettes are framed in the backlight flooding the warehouse interior. Together they remove a slender iron cylinder from the furnace. This is the crucible carried with oversized iron tongs to three of the six molds waiting to be filled. Kernstine steadies the crucible for Campbell who has earned the honor of pouring. In its liquid form, the bronze is dark red to orange with flashes of gold. When it fills the molds it’s white hot. Each of the molds is allowed to cool for 30 minutes before it is hosed down with water. The vents are cut off and melted into the remaining bronze to be used in casting the second set of molds. After all of the molds are filled, three more stages remain: breaking the ceramic shell off the bronze, cleaning each cast piece and welding the parts together. The octopus is the finale in Campbell’s sea life series. “I love the form but I don’t want to be niched,” Campbell says. “My next series is going to be based off the human form.” 7 8 www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
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