Incollect Magazine - Issue 14

Incollect Magazine 79 surprise when working with bronze,” she says. ‘That is why I focused extensively on structure and form, keeping it visually intact while refining it within the constraints of the material. Maintaining the same curves while hollowing them to get the sense of lightness I was after, for example, is a whole discipline in itself and a particularly lengthy process.” Her initial idea was not just to create an impression of lightness in the treatment of bronze, but also a sense of momentum, she says, “avoiding a static appearance so that the pieces felt almost in a state of movement or in motion.” Through painstaking research, trial and error, she incorporated a delicate little twist in the legs of her floor pieces, and in the taut, angular lines that visually refine the contours. “Once these details are resolved and maintained from design through to the final finishing, they allow the line, and therefore the weight of the design, to be significantly lightened.” Working with bronze, she usually employs one of two artisanal casting techniques: sand-casting, and the lost wax technique, both of which she learned at the foundry. Sand-casting bronze creates objects by pouring molten bronze into a mold formed in moistened sand, which is left to cool and then finished. The lost wax casting is a far more precise technique that utilizes a plaster cage with a male and female taphole for the molten bronze, covered with elastomer to create an imprint of the sculpture. “Then we brush it with wax to get a mold in reverse, and we use that hollow form to get the final object cast.” One of the most intricate works Millot created was a mirror for an exhibition at the Valerie Goodman Gallery in New York in 2023. “I had a floral element in mind and wanted the bronze above Anasthasia Millot Bronze “Gabrielle” stool, 2023, pair available. Patina and upholstery can be customized.