Trevor Askin
Trevor has a unique style, which he has called 'curvilinear' as his works are flowing with curves - no hard lines. Each piece is a unique work - there is no master mould. He began sculpting around 1980. As he wished to carry out the whole process of creating a bronze himself, thereby having control of his work from start to finish, he also started learning the different processes required to create a bronze sculpture using the age old "cire perdue", lost wax, method. Trevor has now completed over 500 works.
He starts with a lump or sheet of wax and when he has sculpted the shape he wants he adds a wax sprue cup, various gateing and venting. This has a two fold use: (1) to allow wax to escape during the burn-out; and (2) an opening for pouring the molten bronze into. The next stage is coating the wax sculpture in a ceramic mould. This is done over a period of a week, the ceramic shell being built up using high tech refractories one coat at a time with adequate drying in between each coat.
After two more days the ceramic shell coated wax sculpture is placed in a hot burn-out furnace and the wax melted out. The hollow ceramic mould is then calcined in a hotter furnace to harden the ceramic and the shell mould is ready to take the bronze. Having a good "melt" of bronze is very important and a faculty one develops over time. Bronze ingots are put in a crucible in the furnace (the crucible full of bronze weighs about 45 kg). It takes about an hour for the bronze to melt and reach 1240 degrees C. The bronze is poured into the moulds at about 1190 °C. The ceramic shell mould can be broken off after 30 minutes cooling and then the fettling begins - cutting off the sprue, gates, etc and sanding the surface smooth. The final stage is applying the patina, which gives the sculpture its colour: brown, black or blue. A thin coat of wax is applied to keep the surface from marking when handled.
View videos and photos of the creative process in the following news article; Forty years, 600 works but Timaru sculptor says he is still learning