Shandana Gruber – United Kingdom

Eternity

Description

The story is a very personal one. It was the 19th of January 2008. I went to the workplace of my friend, the man who is now my husband, so we could go out for dinner at the end of a long day of work – something we did now and then as two people working nearby. What happened instead was that we chatted and laughed away the hours, lost in each other’s company. By the time we finally emerged of our time capsule and decided to eat, we realised that it was way past midnight and no restaurant was open. According to my husband, that was the day he decided to spend the rest of his life with me. We celebrate the anniversary of that ‘no dinner date’ to this day.

This is to say that time ceases to exist when you are in the company of a loved one. My sculptural hat features my artwork depicting a kissing couple and my poem (not very visible in the photos but its there) that reads,

“The minute your lips touched mine
Time expanded to an instant
Then shrank to an eternity.”

(The contrast of verbs is deliberate).

Materials

• Synthetic Plastic, Resin
• Bio Plastic
• Digital Artwork and Poetry
• Markers
• Paint
• Powder pigments
• Biodegradable glitter

Techniques

• The process for this piece started with graphically creating the ‘kiss’ artwork based on a sculpture I had seen. Along with that commenced the writing of my original poem. I have been studying materials science for a few years now and decided to use my signature fashion design materials for this piece – epoxy resin and bio plastics.
• It had to be done in stages as each layer had to reach a certain ‘cure’ and ‘viscosity’ before I could add the next. For that to happen, I had to keep the temperature and humidity at a certain level in my laboratory (difficult to achieve in the middle of winter in an uninsulated lab). The artwork and poetry were casted during this layering process. I played with colours in shades of blue and green to go with the artwork. I also gave it a fluid appearance so it fitted my concept of ‘the warping of time’ for the competition theme. After all the layers were set, I sculpted the hat to mould around the face, neck, and head using precise measurements. In the end, I sanded and polished it.