Casting process begins on Soy Pod

A soy pod was delivered to a Mt. Morris business last week but it definitely is not edible.

This soy pod was a sculpture created by Pamela Lee, Grayslake, that will be cast in bronze by the inBronze Foundry as part of the Community Art Legacy (CAL) Sculpture Competition.

Soy pod is the ninth sculpture in a  series of 10 being installed in the Oregon area.

Lee brought her full-size clay sculpture to Mt. Morris on Jan. 10 to begin the casting process.

"What soy pod represents is a soy pod and I decided to make all the little beans of the soy pod animals that would feed from the soy pods," said Lee. "We have the chicken, cow, pig, and goat. The original idea was that it was part of a larger sculpture and I decided to simplify it."

Lee chose the soy pod as her inspiration for a sculpture because of how soybeans affect everybody.

Soybeans are used to feed animals and make a variety of beneficial products.

"I think the sculpture came out nice and I am happy with it," she said.

While waiting to turn over the sculpture to inBronze, Lee had to try and refrain from working on the sculpture.

She said there is always more that can be done, but an artist needs to step back when a piece is finished and avoid making changes.

At this point Lee has done all that she can do on the sculpture.

For the rest of the journey, Jeff Adams and his staff at inBronze will turn the clay sculpture into a finished bronze.

This will be accomplished by using the lost wax method of casting.

In this process a rubber mold is made of the clay original.  Hot wax is poured into this mold and then dipped into a ceramic slurry to create the final mold.

This ceramic mold is heated in an oven to remove the wax and then bronze is poured into the ceramic mold.

When the ceramic mold is broken off the bronze casting is revealed.

Once completed, the sculpture will be installed at a site in Oregon that will be announced later this year.