The sculpture is in the hands of mold maker Rich Sears, who is creating the silicon rubber molds for the Pre Tribute. Once this step is complete, liquid wax is poured into the mold. It is left to harden the wax to 1/4″ thick, and the rest of the liquid wax is poured out. Physical properties of bronze do not allow solid casting. As a large-scale sculpture, Pre will be cast in several pieces. So, like the ancient Greeks, Mike Leckie uses the lost-wax method to cast Pre into a freestanding bronze statue. The wax is an exact copy of the original and will go through a “wax cleaning” to fix any imperfections and seam lines.
When we cut the clay sculpture into manageable sized pieces for mold making, the torso was the last piece left on the armature, and you could see the reference to the ancient Greeks. I didn’t know the torso would be so classical when I sculpted it as part of the whole sculpture. A pleasant surprise.
Mike Leckie