#crouching aphrodite

[theancientwayoflife]

~ Crouching Aphrodite. Culture: Roman, based on a Greek original of c. 3rd–2nd century B.C. Period: Late Republican–Early Imperial (1st cent. B.C.–2nd cent. A.D.) Date: ca. 50 B.C.–A.D. 140 Medium: Marble

[marmarinos]

Detail of the Lely Venus, an ancient Roman copy of a Greek original by Doidalses of Bithynia. While the original Greek statue would have dated to the mid 3rd century BCE, the copy dates to the Antonine period (138-192 CE). Currently located in the British Museum. Photo taken by Faces of Ancient Europe.

[sycamoretreees]

[eucanthos]

Vera Lutter   (DE, 1960)

Marble Statue of Aphrodite Crouching: October 21, 2012. Unique gelatin silver print, 14 x 8 7/8 inches. © Vera Lutter. Courtesy Gagosian.

Lutter is known for her ghostly, immersive camera-obscura photographs made in pinhole cameras that are sometimes the size of small rooms. Rather than printing positive images from a negative, she keeps the tonal values reversed, so that a bright daytime sky is impenetrably black, and solid structures appear to glow. 

https://brooklynrail.org/2022/03/art/Vera-Lutter-with-Jean-Dykstra

[broscosmoline]

iimage: crouching aphrodite / louvre / chris mcgillicuddy

[fromthedust]

Crouching Aphrodite repairs

Finally at the stages of attaching the fingers: 

Index and little finger of the right hand cemented into place.

Index and little finger of the right hand cemented, the middle and ring finger dry fitted for position.

Index and little finger of the right hand sanded and contoured to a proper fit.

Middle finger cemented into place.

Middle finger contoured to fit.

Ring finger cemented into place.

This last photo of the hand shows some additional resin added to fill tiny pinholes in the ring and little finger attachments. After contour sanding the filler these pinholes inevitably show up and need filling and re-contouring. Sometimes three or four applications of filler are needed to get all the pinholes.

Selection of tools used thus far in the contouring process: (clockwise from bottom left) Right-angle pneumatic drill with #30 drill bit, multi-speed Dremel tool fitted with quick-change mandrel and various grit SiC (Silicon Carbide) sanding discs, two electroplated diamond discs, a SiC mesh abrasive wheel on quick-change mandrel, resin-coated Adalox sanding drum, a needle rasp and three needle files in different contours, a piece of 600 grit SiC wet’n’dry sandpaper, a tungsten carbide cutting bur, a tungsten carbide router-bit (w/green plastic shoulder), and a ⅛” flat graver with yellow handle. 

Detail view of tungsten carbide router bit and tungsten carbide cutting bur.

Other than the initial cleaning stages all the work has been done inside the studio under artificial light - a blend of indirect fluorescent lighting high overhead and a couple of direct incandescent and halogen lights closer to the workpiece. Good strong direct lighting is imperative to get the sculpted contours correct whether modeling or carving.  The color spectrum of the lights doesn’t really affect the sculpting process — only the photography documenting it. The photos I’ve shown in each posting have all had to be color-corrected in Photoshop.

After the final applications of filler are contoured the final stages of the repair work can be done. These final stages are cosmetic touch-up of the repaired/filled joins and that must be done in direct natural sunlight. Because of the location of my studio and the workspace I have outside the studio door in the driveway that means afternoon sun. In the morning the work-area by the studio door and driveway are in the shade of the house, and at high noon the sun is usually too bright to do cosmetic work. For about three or four hours — from about 2 pm to 6 pm — the sunlight is ideal for doing the cosmetic work. Because of my teaching schedule this summer I usually only arrive home about 5 pm, so that leaves me with about an hour of good light. 

If it is not raining, that is . . . 

Here in Georgia during the summertime there is almost always a 50% chance of thunderstorms in the late afternoon, so doing the cosmetic work always leaves me at the mercy of the weather. 

[fromthedust]

Crouching Aphrodite repairs

Left index finger with pin ready to attach.

Left hand with index finger dry fitted.

Left hand with index finger cemented with polyester resin filler.

Left hand with index finger sanded-down and contoured.

Polyester resin filler and catalyst showing mixing proportions. In the summertime temperatures the resin sets up in about three or four minutes and can be sanded after about ten minutes.

Left side of chipped base before and after filling with polyester resin, and then with polyester resin filler sanded to the contour of base with 120 grit.

Right side of chipped base filled with polyester resin before and after sanding the filler to the base contour.

Showing the mouth after the scratch at lower left corner was sanded down.

Four right hand fingers with fingernails worked and ready to fit.   

[fromthedust]

Crouching Aphrodite repairs 

June 25 - five fingers - rough cut

June 30 - six fingers - second cut, diameters-roughly sized

July 1 - right hand finger stubs flattened (holes were the old repair holes)

July 1 - finger stubs drilled for new pins, pencil lines for transferring hole placement in middle finger

July 1 - middle finger cut-to-length, drilled and test-fitted with copper pin

July 2 - marking registration lines for transferring hole placement on ring finger

July 2 - dry test fitting ring finger after boring hole for pin

July 2 - dry-fitting of little finger

July 2 - dry-fitting of index finger

July 2 - five fingers cut-to-length, four fitted with copper pins which are cemented in place with epoxy