When most people think 3D printing, they just think of prototype models and manufacturing applications. Our customers continue to surprise us with what wonderful projects that they can utilise 3D printing for, and this time it’s art and sculpting. With the ability to print the most complex of structures, 3D printing enables you to print anything the mind can imagine – and our latest customer did just that! We caught up with him below…

Hi Sumit! Can you explain to us a bit more about what you do….

I am a sculptor and painter working with a variety of media and processes, from traditional and analogue to digital. My work takes inspiration from a variety of sources, including religious iconography, science fiction and graffiti, with recent work focusing on abstracted sculptural form. New technology like 3D Printing is integral to my practice with recent projects including the exploration of the use of video mapping, motion capture, and augmented and virtual reality.

I also work as a designer, workshop leader and curator. You can check out my work here: www.kriksix.com 

Why did you turn to 3D printing, particularly the J750 for this project?

I first discovered 3D printing processes in my work back in 2006 whilst researching processes for an exhibition of futuristic Hindu sculptures. Having started with more traditional techniques, making wooden armatures and sculpting with clay, I found I was unable to to achieve the complexity and detail I desired, and thus moved to digital 3D modelling and 3D printing.

I have kept an eye out on the latest advancements in technology, and have been eager to work with the Stratasys J750 since it’s release. I have recently experimented with printing different materials and merging them together, including recent work which fused marble milled by a 7-axis robot arm with 3D printed parts, and aerosol and paint.

Multi-material 3D Print has in part inspired my new work and the move from a lifetime of figurative work to abstracted form, with the potential to create highly complex structures that would be impossible to make any other way.

How did you find the results from the J750?

Amazing. Perfect. Similar to the Ananta exhibition from 2009 where I worked with SLS and SLA, the feeling of receiving a perfect sculpture after spending months modelling a piece is incredible, and all the more so with the J750 piece.

Do you know of any other sculptors/artists using this technology?

I curated and produced MESHx a few years ago, an exhibition featuring work by 6 British sculptors working with digital technology, including digital sculpting legend Professor Keith Brown, who are all working with innovative digital sculptural processes in their work. However I am not aware of anyone specifically working with the J750 or multi – material 3D print, hence it being a great find for me!

Where is the sculpture now, and can it be viewed by the public?

The sculpture marks the end of the current phase of the project, which also included working with marble at the Digital Stone Project in Italy, and a solo exhibition and 20 year retrospective in Gateshead last year. I am presently fundraising the next phase and exhibition, which will include the new sculpture, and also new work that aims to fuse new multi-material printed parts with marble and other print processes, designed to be interactive and animated within Augmented and Virtual Reality.

Full Project ➡ here

To view a video of Sumit’s project from initial design conception through to full 3D Print.