A continuation of the series of studio blogs relating to the making of the artwork for Pygmy Lush’s album TOTEM, this post is about the making of the inside fold out panel of the record/CD insert.
The scribble thumbnail I submitted to the band to translate my ideas. At the early stage I work very fast and don’t concern myself with a good drawing. These early sketches are all about getting my thoughts down and working out basic shapes and design. The original idea was to have a sun and moon, also reflected on the album cover, but the idea was eventually discarded. Also left out from this sketch was the possibility of typography flanking the central image.
In May 2022, I had made a mold of a giant centipede for another sculpture and tintype that never quite came together. This was slow and very delicate work, as the legs and antenna were extremely fragile. In this picture, a clay parting line is being made under magnification.
Once the silicone was poured on the first half, the clay was carefully removed and the second half of the mold was made.
Wire was added inside the mold to strengthen all the legs before pouring with resin. Even casting with a pressure pot, the antenna were too fine and had to be sculpted in later.
Jumping ahead to December 2024, I began work on the TOTEM artwork, starting with a fresh castings of the centipede. All the segments of the centipede were separated and arranged in curves, following a work drawing. These segments were then sculpted and corrected to become seamless. The antenna and many of the legs had to be resculpted using fine wire as an armature.
The severed neck of the raven was sculpted in clay. I was trying to be anatomically correct as possible and still have the neck piece be sculptural. After the clay sculpt was finished, a silicone mold was made of it and a resin copy poured.
In order to sculpt the raven’s neck vertebrae accurately, I contacted the University of Wisconsin Zoological Museum where they were kind enough to let me have access to their collection. There I was able to take detailed photographs and measurements of a raven’s vertebrae, which gave me the confidence to sculpt such a tiny and intricate shape.
The epoxy clay vertebra segment was molded in three parts, after which I produced copies to link together to create a neck column. About 5 vertebra pieces were further sculpted into, creating a transition from neck column to centipede.
After the painted neck appliance was glued into the taxidermy raven’s neck cavity, a finished vertebra with a small magnet was added.
Magnets were also added to the end of the centipede and vertebra column which allowed me to assemble easier and make adjustments.
The finished sculpture was photographed and made into a tintype at the end of March 2025. The camera used was my 1900 Century No. 2 fitted with a 8x10 back. I had a custom plate reducer made in Slovenia by Zebra, which allowed me to shoot a 4.75” x 9.375” tin plate, following the dimensions of the inside 12” x 24” record insert.
The surrounding border ornament was drawn using pen and ink, with elements drawn separately and arranged digitally.
The finished Pygmy Lush TOTEM vinyl record insert. 12” x 24”. Released by Persistent Vision Records.