Homogeneous Resin Fields - Allen Schill

fine art, sculpture, desiccant beads, clear resin, translucent, hanging, homogeneous, uniform, round

Disc of Desiccant Beads (backlit), Sept. 2023. 11.8 cm. diam. x 0.9 cm.. (id#1570)

The desiccant beads are of the type often packages with photographic lenses, used to prevent the accumulation of humidity. Here they are arranged uniformly in a disc

Disc of Desiccant Beads (on black background), Sept. 2023. 11.8 cm. diam. x 0.9 cm.. (id#1570)

The same desiccant beads as in the previous image, but photographed on a black background.

fine art, sculpture, desiccant crystals, tinted resin, translucent, hanging, homogeneous, uniform, rectangular

Desiccant Crystals (coarse, straw-colored), Oct. 2024. 17.9 x 23.5 x 1.0 cm.. (id#1695)

Desiccant beads arranged uniformly in a large rectangle.

fine art, sculpture, desiccant beads, tinted resin, translucent, hanging, homogeneous, uniform, round

Azure Disc with Clear Desiccant Beads, Jan.-Mar. 2024. 7.2 cm. diam. x 1.0 cm.. (id#1595)

Desiccant beads arranged uniformly in a disc, with resin tinted a pale blue.

fine art, sculpture, fingernail clippings, clear resin, translucent, hanging, homogeneous, uniform, rectangular

Untitled (Unghie), Nov.-Dec. 2024. 13.1 x 18.5 x 1.0 cm.. (id#1706)

A thin layer of fingernail clippings, arranged uniformly in clear resin in a large rectangle.

Disc of Amber Desiccant Beads in Clear Resin, Nov. 2023-Feb. 2024. 5.5 diam. x 1.3 cm.. (id#1596)

Desiccant beads arranged uniformly in a disc.

fine art, sculpture, hamamelis petals, clear resin, translucent, hanging, homogeneous, uniform, round

Disc of Hamamelis Petals, Mar. Sept. 2023. 9.0 cm. diam. x 1.0 cm.. (id#1551)

Hamamelis is a small tree or large shrub that produces many brilliantly-colored petals in early spring, yellow, orange, and red. It is used to make witch hazel, a skin lotion.

fine art, sculpture, white flower petals, clear resin, opaque, hanging, homogeneous, uniform, round

Large Disc with White Flower Petals, Oct.Nov. 2023. 11.8 cm. diam. x 0.9 cm.. (id#1569)

Dried, white flower petals arranged uniformly in a large disc with clear resin.

fine art, sculpture, seed pods of wild garlic, clear resin, opaque, hanging, homogeneous, uniform, square

Aglio Ursinum (Wild Garlic seed pods), Sept. 2024. 10.2 x 10.1 x 0.8 cm.. (id#1691)

Dried seed pods of wild garlic (aglio ursinum, or bear's garlic) arranged uniformly in a large square with clear resin.

fine art, sculpture, fingernail clippings, clear resin, semi-translucent, homogeneous, uniform, square, archaeology, Schliemann

Schliemann’s Dream, May.Dec. 2024. 5.1 x 5.1 x 2.1 cm.. Bat droppings, clay desiccant beads, basil roots, staples. (id#1653)

German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann is famous for his excavations, especially for his discovery of the ancient city of Troy, the site of the battle recounted in Homer's Iliad. I'm no Schliemann expert and I have no idea about what he may have dreamed, or about his role in the archaeological principle of studying ancient history by means of the layers of artifacts left behind - the oldest layers holding the artifacts of the earliest habitations, etc.. But I thought of the very famous dream of the chemist August Kekulé, who dreamed of a snake biting its own tail, thus inspiring his realization that the benzene was a ring of six atoms. And so I imagined that Schliemann might have dreamed of a series of sedimentary layers demonstrating the progression from age to age in human civilization: scat, clay artifacts, vegetation, and metal. Progress!!! I've left out the plastic and the forever chemicals.

fine art, sculpture, fingernail clippings, clear resin, translucent, hanging, homogeneous, uniform, square

Unghie, April-May 2024. 5.1 x 5.1 x 1.5 cm.. (id#1643)

A thick layer of fingernail clippings, arranged in clear resin.

fine art, sculpture, seed fragments, tinted resin, semi-translucent, hanging, homogeneous, uniform, square

Flower and Seed in Orange Square (backlit), Jan.-Feb. 2024. 10.1 x 10.2 x 0.8 cm.. (id#1587)

Dried flowers and seeds embedded in a square of resin, tinted yellow-orange.

Flower and Seed Fragments in Orange Square (with black background), Jan.-Feb. 2024. 10.1 x 10.2 x 0.8 cm.. (id#1587)

Dried flowers and seeds embedded in a square of resin, tinted yellow-orange. The same piece as the previous one, but photographed against a dark background.

fine art, sculpture, silver flakes, clear resin, opaque, homogeneous, uniform, rectangular

Flakes of Silver, Dec. 2024. 5.3 x 8.1 x 0.8 cm.. (id#1721)

The silver flakes come from an old container of hyposulphite, or photographic fixer, which absorbs the silver in the photographic paper which has not been sufficiently exposed to light under the enlarger, and is thus removed from the photographic emulsion. After some years, the hypo solution leaves a sediment of silver, black on one side but shiny on the smooth side where it had been in contact with the plastic jug.

fine art, sculpture, dead bees, dead insects, tinted resin, semi-translucent, hanging, uniform, rectangular

Under the Volcano (Pompeii), Dec. 2024. 5.7 x 4.1 x 1.0 cm.. (id#1728)

Thinking of that long-ago day when Vesuvius erupted and buried the whole town, inundating tens of thousands with magma and killing them before they even knew what was happening, but leaving a great gift to future archaeologists and to everyone in the tourist sector who deal with those who come to see the marvelous frescoes. The same thing happened to countless insects, although this piece doesn't do justice to the mere cinders they left behind. Insects were trapped in amber millions of years ago in a process much different than this. The title alludes to Malcolm Lowry's great novel of the tragically alcoholic British Consul in a small Latin American city. Jack Bruce (of Cream) also recorded a fine song by the same name.

fine art, sculpture, desiccant crystals, clear resin, translucent, hanging, homogeneous, uniform, rectangular

Coarse Gum Arabic Crystals, Nov. 2024. 4.7 x 7.4 x 0.8 cm.. (id#1707)

Large chunks of gum arabic crystals, some amber, some deep red-brown, some straw-colored. Gum arabic is a material known since ancient times, used even now as a glue for postage stamps and envelopes.

fine art, sculpture, worn soap bar, clear resin, semi-translucent, homogeneous, uniform, rectangular

Untitled (White Soap), Dec, 2024-Jan. 2025. 6.0 x 9.2 x 1.2 cm.. (id#1727)

A cake of white soap, worn almost to uselessness in an elegant oval, a sort of sort surfboard shape (visible when seen from the side).

Untitled (Pink Soap), Dec, 2024-Jan. 2025. 7.8 x 6.5 x 1.2 cm.. (id#1726)

A cake of pink soap, worn almost to uselessness.

Homogeneous Resin Fields

These were made in steps. Usually a first layer of resin was poured into the mold as a base, so that the materials to follow would not rest right on the bottom. A thicker layer would follow, in which I placed the materials - not too deep in the cases where the material tended to float. I made sure to distribute the material evenly. Once that layer had hardened, I poured in another layer of resin to cover the materials completely. Sometimes a fourth layer was necessary to cover and leave a smooth upper surface. In a few cases, I left the material embedded in the resin but not covered, in order to leave the material's texture behind.

The translucent pieces are meant to be displayed with transmitted light by hanging them in a window. The opaque works are meant for display on a tabletop or shelf.

The molds were round, square, or rectangular trays or boxes, usually coated with silicone to allow easy release of the finished piece. In some, the traces of the way the silicone was spread (with a fingertip) can be seen.

I have always been fascinated by rich textures and uniform surfaces. They are visually attractive in themselves, but I would never think of them as merely decorative. Things tend to accumulate in a uniform way simply as the result of physical processes in which randomness is an element. In this way the pieces bear witness to these physical laws, which make a powerful statement.