MY USE OF COLOR

In the early days of my art career I worked entirely in metal and loved the look and texture of oxidation (rust), such as in the sculpture to the left, Torrent.

I still use oxidation for a finish, but as time went on, I became more interested in color, usually using powerful primary colors like red, such as in my sculpture Top Knot. I now use more complex and varied colors on my sculptures just as I use a variety of finishes, from oxidation to a variety of types of paint to powder coating to patinas.

When I began 3D printing sculpture, however, things changed. Early on, I was limited to the few colors of filament available. Then I became enamored with translucents, such as with my sculpture Sunscraper, yet those, too, had limited options. Still, I love how light shines through the translucent reds, blues, purples and specially yellows.

As the technology has advanced I’ve been able to expand into using multiple colors in a single print as in my sculpture Truffula, something I could do in a limited way previously. I’ve even begun incorporating lights into some of my 3D-printed sculptures, as shown at left in the sculpture Solar Flare, to take full advantage of their love affair with illumination.

With the advancements in filaments, I now have a rainbow of colors to choose from, and I’m able to be more discerning when selecting the colors to complement my sculptures’ forms.

That being said, I usually select colors intuitively, the same way I create my sculptures themselves.
– Kevin Caron