Simply the Breast

Hi! I’m Jean,

I’ve just turned 61 and am launching a new element to my sculpting business. Simply the Breast torso casting. How did I get into doing this?

THE BACKSTORY

I was spending a weekend with a small group of close female friends. I’d been making clay and plaster sculptures for several months and had some mod roc plaster bandages at home. Just on a whim, I put them in the car thinking it might be fun to cast each other’s torsos for an art installation – I didn’t really know where, why or how at that stage… but everyone was keen to experiment with this idea, so we spent one afternoon with me wrapping their front torsos in plaster bandages and laughing a lot! As soon as we’d finished and put the breasts in a row in the late afternoon sunshine, I knew I had started a journey.

It didn’t matter whether we were over 60 or in our 30’s, had prominent or inverted nipples, were lopsided or saggy, the first stage casts all looked fantastic, striking and each one beautiful and self-affirming in its own right. Lying in the sunshine in front of a first floor window, the safety bars created a prison effect which to all of us encapsulated how trapped we often feel as women. Celebrating our uniqueness and the beauty of our bodies made all of us feel empowered.

LIBERATING OUR BREASTS

My friends and I decided the next day to liberate our “breast casts” by taking them outside for a photo shoot: laying them in fields of flowers; holding them up to the spring sunshine and nestling them in a lilac tree inspired the idea that I could decorate them and turn them into unique pieces of art for the shelf, wall or garden. I decided to design artwork to suit each individual woman and celebrate something personal to her.

BREAST ART FOR ALL

So here I am, a few months later offering you the chance to have your own cast with unique art work made. The cast is made of plaster bandages (applied directly to your skin), which I then take home and encase in robust Cassini plaster and paint with various effects or collage to represent you. They can sit on a shelf, hang on a wall or even be tailored to stand in your garden as an outdoor sculpture. We can discuss your desired decoration and go from there. As you can see in the photos they make great pieces of art in their own right. Email me if you’d like to arrange to chat about having yours done or to organise for a group of you to have casts made. I am also happy to do male torsos, and can offer a discount for more than one casting at a time. Great couples artwork, hen party activity, sisters/friends special birthday gifts. I’ve had several customers say they wish they’d done this when their body was younger, firmer, fitter or less flabby – think again! It is time to celebrate YOU now! My raised arm casting position can provide the lift needed to produce a beautiful cast you can be proud of regardless of size, age or gender.

THE PROCESS

The cast is made directly on your skin, with your hands resting on your head. This will be done at a location where you will feel most comfortable. You will need a towel and washbag, some comfy old PJ trousers or similar, which will get some residue of plaster on them.

BREAST CANCER CONNECTION

People diagnosed with breast cancer and facing the daunting reality of mastectomy and treatment often feel they’d like to have their torso cast before they go through this massive change. It can also be used as a way to celebrate your new contours post operation or to create a lifelike replica of your new shape to design tattoo artwork on.