Vision has been carrying my work for a while, and for the past many months they have displayed the largest collection of my 3D-printed sculpture outside of a special show I did this past February. With glass walls on three exposures, the gallery is the perfect place for 3D-printed sculpture, especially light-hungry translucent pieces.
I wasn’t surprised that the sculpture they sold this month was Lemon Drop (shown on next page), a particularly luscious piece printed in translucent yellow PLA filament. Of all the translucents I’ve used thus far, the yellow is by far the most beautiful. It seems to capture and reflect the light.
The blue translucent is downright cold, although still beautiful, while the red tends to glow. The purple is more subtle, as evidenced in Josephine, a sculpture I recently completed that is on display at Vision Gallery. I love the emails I get from the gallery manager, who keeps snapping and sending photos of the sculptures as the light moves across the sky. She’ll write such reports as “Miss Josephine looks particularly sultry today.” That’s music to my ears: it means the art is as alive for her as it is for me.
What has surprised me, though, is who is buying my 3D-printed sculptures ….
The first sculpture to sell was Vessel, another piece printed in translucent filament, this time purple. Two men, probably in their late 40s or early 50s, bought it at a show. They were definitely into style and fashion. That made sense to me as 3D printing is trendy and my work is intentionally beautiful (which is not always true of art!)
What’s surprised me, though, is that several of the other pieces, including my first large format 3D-printed sculpture, Simple Planes With Aquamarine Stripe, sold to, shall we say, more mature patrons. In fact, one gorgeous sculpture was snapped up by a gentleman who is possibly in his 80s, who clearly wanted to buy it before anyone else could.
I would never have guessed that!
I would have bet on young techies who totally “get” the difficulty and mastery of 3D printing these sculptures as well as liking their forms and vibrant color.
As for who purchased Lemon Drop, well, that is still unknown. Although galleries seldom reveal who buys artwork, this is one mystery I hope to solve soon, even if it’s only how old the buyer is ….