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The techniques of chasing and repoussé are traditionally used to embellish or add detail to the surface of a piece of hollowware or jewelry. Sheet metal, hollow-formed metal, flatware, and sculptures can all be chased (textured and refined from the front with steel tools called chasing tools and using a chasing hammer), and worked from the back with soft-faced steel tools, which is repoussé. For excellent descriptions of these processes please see my book, Chasing and Repouseé: Methods Ancient and Modern by Nancy Mēgan Corwin. Also see Oppi Untracht’s book, JEWELRY: Concepts and Technology, and Marcia Lewis' Chasing: Ancient Metalworking Technique with Modern Applications.
Although there are many approaches throughout the world to these techniques, the process is common in one important aspect. The work is held steady in a material called pitch (wood-based resin combined with wax and plaster), and worked with steel tools. Pitch can be held in a heavy metal bowl, spread on a piece of wood or poured into the hollowware piece that is being chased.The versatility of this material is what gives chasing its sculptural and detail possibilities.
My approach is to work three-dimensionally in all aspects of my designs. I add layers of texture to pieces that often have no common plane or edge, and make my own chasing tools for specific forms and textures. In most cases, I will work on every part of the individual piece being chased, rather than isolating specific decorative and representational areas. I see texture as individualistic an element as the quality of line is for a drawer, a specific color palette for a painter, or the relationship of form to content for a sculptor. Working to develop form and texture together to create one-of-a-kind art pieces, I experience the process of making the piece as meditative and fulfilling. |
