Utah sculptor Stephen Kesler began his career as a graphic artist at a marketing company. After 19 years of designing corporate logos and branding materials, websites and print pieces, Kesler discovered the work of Ron Mueck, whose artwork intrigued him. Within a few short years he was creating life-like pieces of his own.
While Kesler’s work is mesmerizing, few would guess his primary material. Lightweight, able to be precisely shaped, and large enough to accomplish the life-like scale of mega animals cost effectively, Kesler uses expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam manufactured by ACH Foam Technologies.
Kesler begins with a small-scale maquette shaped from modeling clay and then develops a 3D model of the sculpture’s internal structure, which is fabricated from steel. The foam is cut to the rough sizes required and attached to the frame using a liquid adhesive. A hot wire cutter is used to remove the initial layer of excess foam, followed by various tools. When it’s complete the sculpture is covered with one of several special hard-coat applications depending on where the piece will be displayed.
While ACH’s EPS foam comes in a variety of densities, Kesler works with one to two pound densities for large pieces because it carves faster. He uses EPS foam in the two to three pound densities for smaller, more detailed sculptures. Kesler returns the foam he shaves off each block to ACH to be recycled and reintroduced into the manufacturing process.
Published in the October 2016 Edition of American Recycler News