Medium: Plaster, Style: Bas relief, Framed size: 30"x24"x1"
Whether you’ve traveled to Pompeii or you daydream of going, this stunning, low bas relief will instantly transport you to the tragic city of ancient Rome that was buried in ash.
I love ancient cultures. I’m fascinated by how people in the past lived and coped with every-day life.
The city of Pompeii entombed in volcanic ash, preserved glimpses into every day life and astounding Roman artwork, which inspired “Cities in the Dust I.”
For “Cities in the Dust II,” I took everything I learned from the first piece and bettered it in this second take on a theme. Instead of using the same color palette, I shifted the colors and orientation of the pattern to represent the other side of the original arch.
I created this piece by carving the pattern into Venetian plaster. (The design is from a mosaic at Herculaneum.) I individually painted each “tile” and applied wax to create a tile-like gloss.
To create the appearance of age, I chipped some tiles and dirtied the surface with glaze. The final touches were adding the necklace and adding gypsum plaster to mimic volcanic ash.
Pause a moment and ignite your imagination with how the scene came to be -– the heart-tugging moment when precious belongings become worthless in the face of catastrophe.