3D PrintLab gives artist a new canvas.

An Artists Statement

By Tony Scott

When developing my concept for the exhibition “Journey to Portland” I knew I wanted to feature the visually striking geological features called The Twelve Apostles found along the Great Ocean Road on the journey to Portland from Melbourne.

“I wanted to present the 2D work in a more substantial representation, The 3D printing service offered by Monocure 3D’s Printlab in Sydney seemed an interesting solution.”

The previous year (2020) I had painted a series of paintings that I had called “Mountains on a Horizon” – see attached presentation. I wanted to present the 2D work in a more substantial representation, the printing offered by Monocure 3D’s Printlab in Sydney seemed an interesting solution to render these 2D images to this more solid statement. I had seen a presentation of very delicate but substantial 3D printing in an international exhibition at Monash University Art Gallery in Melbourne and this seemed to be an interesting solution.

A series of 10 Rocks/Mountains had already been formed in clay for the installation I had in mind but the idea of using “new technology” appealed to me. A series of 6 small sculptures were sent to Sydney and I was very pleased with the results of the printing – they were perfect reproductions of the sculptures and match the original paintings beautifully.

The Clay shapes were 3D Scanned and 3D Printed at Monocure 3D in their White TUFF™ Resin

“A series of 6 small sculptures were sent to Sydney and I was very pleased with the results of the 3D scanning & printing.

The next experiment was how the material in the printing would take paint – in this case, I wanted to use oil paint & oil pigment to match as closely as I could the surface and painterly effects in the 2D paintings. The oil paint and oil pigment reacted and adhered to the resin surface of the shapes exactly as I had hoped.

Oil painting on 3D printed shapes

“they were perfect reproductions of the sculptures and match the original paintings beautifully.”

I am now experimenting with how to integrate the 2D and 3D work into a visual installation for the Journey to Portland exhibition (regional Victoria) in November and an exhibition at Glen Eira City Gallery, Melbourne September 2021. Thanks to John and the team at the Monocure 3D Printlab for introducing me to the new world of 3D printing. This might be the new canvas for many artists in the future, for me personally, I will be using this medium again very soon!