How to make the Faceture vase by Phil Cuttance

I spotted these vases some time back at Mint in South Kensington. The Faceture vase series by Phil Cuttance is produced individually by casting a water-based resin into a handmade mould. The mould is then manually manipulated to create the each object’s form before each casting, making every piece utterly unique.

Thankfully, Phil produced a short film to show how the vases are made otherwise I may have some terrible description of how it is done. Watch and enjoy…

For those of you who want the lengthy text version, here is how Phil makes the vases…

The mould of the object is hand-made by scoring and cutting a sheet of 0.5mm plastic sheet. This sheet is then folded, cut and taped into the overall shape of the product that is to be cast. The mould’s final shape, and strength, is dictated by which triangular facets are popped in and out. This is done each time he produces each vase, meaning that no two castings are the same. He then mixes a water-based casting resin that is cast in the mould where it sets solid.

The resin is poured into the hollow mould and rolled around to coat and encase the sides, controlled by Phil on the casting jig on the machine. The material soon sets creating a hollow solid object. Then another, different coloured measure of resin is poured into the same mould, and swirled around inside, over the first. When it has set, the mould is removed to reveal the solid set cast piece. The casting appears with sharp accurate lines and a digital quality to its aesthetic, a visual ‘surprise’ considering the ‘lo-fi’, hand-made process from which it came. The mould is then cleaned and ready for re-use.

Each vase is handmade, unique, and numbered on the base. Available in two standard sizes: tall (47x12cm approx.) and small (37x8cm approx.). Images by Petr Krejci & Phil Cuttance.

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