Introducing: Roxy Winterburn
First-class chemistry graduate, VW Beetle restorer, open water diver and sculptor…there is no end to Roxy Winterburn’s talents! Influenced by nostalgia, her debut collection, Circle of Life, incorporates her love of Disney and childhood memories of African voyages with her family. Alongside her father, the sculptor Steve Winterburn, Roxy saw orphaned elephants and a baby hippo in Kenya. She also witnessed heartwarming interactions between penguins at a zoo during a breeding conservation programme. These sights, along with circular forms, feed into her stylised sculptures. Roxy adds: “My love of Disney really inspires my art. I love the way the animals have quirky characters, and that’s what I want to capture. I would love people to feel a connection to the characters I have created. I want people to see them and want to give them a loving home.” LOST-WAX: THE PROCESS Moulding the character from wax or clay is the initial step in this process, followed by creating a mould around the sculpture (typically made from fibre-glass, plastic or rubber). Once the moulds are complete, they are used to create a lost-wax pattern. This is done by slurring boiling hot wax around inside the mould repetitively until it is the correct thickness. Following the assembly of the wax shell, the figure is coated with ceramic powder before the remaining wax is burned out from the outer ceramic shell. The shells must cool from this process before pouring bronze at 1000˚C inside.
The outer shell is knocked away and the remaining bronze figures are welded together ready for the final process: applying the patina. A variation of heat and chemicals ensures different finishes and colours for each bronze statue before they are sealed in a protective wax. INSIDE THE FAMILY STUDIO Much like the families of these animals, the Winterburns are a tight-knit unit who all contribute their time and skills to their on-site foundry. Just as each patina is unique, so is each day in the studio. Roxy starts the morning with a cup of tea and can often stay there until late in the evening. Sometimes she sketches an idea prior to creating a mould but she usually works from her imagination. She says: “I want to show the artwork through my eyes; I don’t want it to look real. It’s how you perceive the animals to be.” Roxy is able to complete every stage of the lost-wax process, adding: “Some days I might be sculpting, and others I can be making lost-wax casts, welding or chasing the bronze works.”
26 FINE ART COLLECTOR AUTUMN2019
FINE ART COLLECTOR AUTUMN2019 27
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