Lily Pedano, Interdisciplinary Sculpture, 2025
I am a sculptor working primarily in ceramic, metal, and wood, examining themes of mental health, childhood, and femininity
Project Overview
For this piece, I formed my mother’s face out of bacterial cellulose. Throughout the process of growing the cellulose, I was thinking about the relationship between the original pellicle to the larger one I was growing and how it mimicked a parent and child relationship.
Process
After processing the pellicles in the bath, I laid the pellicle over a bisque-fired ceramic sculpture of my mother’s face. I massaged it over the course of a week, pressing the water out and forming it to the face below while keeping it loosely covered with plastic when I was not actively working on it. Once it was almost completely dry, I placed plastic in between the pellicle and the ceramic so it did not stick and continued to massage it, now leaving it completely uncovered.
