Steven Haulenbeek ICB Lace Vessel #1

Steven Haulenbeek’s experimental fabrication process has led him to reinvent the lost wax casting method. To relinquish control over the shape of the moulds for his bronze ICB Lace Vessels, he pours molten wax onto freezing ice and accepts the uncontrollable shapes the cooling wax contorts itself into.

Micro-managing the specificities of each unique piece is impossible; Haulenbeek only knows what he is truly dealing with each time he pulls the wax from the ice. Exploring different temperature gradients between the wax and ice has leant him certain control however. The wax forms wider, more flowing rivulets if introduced to relatively warmer ice, whereas the colder the ice the stronger the wax’s reaction, forming tight, chaotic convolutions.