Art Concrete Guest Gallery: Jeff Koncz

"I'm a student at Spokane Falls Community College and this piece was for a studio class on 'Mixed Media' sculpture. The objective was to create a container for a cast bronze/aluminum piece, learn and research material use and sources, and explore the option of combining materials, and their subsequent inferred relations / ideas / connotations.

"The box form is one piece, cast in concrete. The dimensions of the concrete alone are 50 cm. X 30 cm. It has an opening at one end that holds a cast aluminum piece. The walls are 7.5 cm. thick. I used a simple mold made of extruded polystyrene foam. I cut all the foam pieces with a jig saw. I joined them together with white glue and masking tape. There are three pieces of rebar running through the top that reinforce, but mainly they're for attaching other materials. I built a shell around the outside of the foam mold with a 3/16" plywood and reinforced the plywood with 2X4's. This was a little bit of overkill for strength, but I wanted to make sure I didn't blowout the mold. My concrete mix was 44kg - Portland cement, 66kg - Silica sand, 450gm - Polypropylene fibers, and 600ml - Rheobuild 1000 (plasticizer.) There was virtually no cleanup of the concrete form. The only major thing I did was run a propane torch over some spots where the polypropylene fibers were showing. I'm very happy with the results.

"This piece is an exploration of form and material relationships. My work is influenced by the industrial forms we see everyday. I'm true to my materials when I work because I create pieces that use the industrial materials; I'm not into 'fooling the eye.' My work is new and original in form, yet familiar in material use; materials that we take for granted.

"I make art because I love the process. There's nothing like dumping a shapeless liquid into a mold and creating a beautiful form. I cast bronze, aluminum, concrete, plastic, and glass. I like combining these cast forms together and with fabricated pieces."

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