Sweltering Heat and a Frozen Octopus

I am revisiting one of my favourite sculptors at the height of summer. Hamish Mackie uses traditional techniques that have not changed much over the centuries. He first creates an armature, a framework onto which Hamish models his sculptures in plasticine. He then makes a silicon rubber mould to produce a negative. This is then used to create a lost wax, ceramic shell, bronze sculpture. The bronze sculptures are so finely cast that Hamish’s fingerprints from the original plasticine model remain clearly visible. The Octopus sculpture Hamish modelled from a frozen octopus seems fitting in this sweltering heat.