The Lost Wax Casting Process
Matt Weir
Matt Weir graduated Cum Laude with a BFA in sculpture from the University of Louisville Hite Art Institute with minors in Humanities and Art History in 2004. Throughout that time in school, he was also busy apprenticing with a diverse set of professional artists, studios and a bronze art foundry. Matt’s time associated with the Bright Foundry lasted for approximately 15 years. In 2016 it closed permanently and he co-organized a team to succeed it as Falls Art Foundry. Matt Weir works in Louisville, Kentucky, where he has maintained a personal art studio in the Germantown neighborhood for the past 14 years. Falls Art Foundry is located in the historic Portland neighborhood.
http://fallsartfoundry.com
Samantha Griffith Pellerin
Current sculpture fabricator at Falls Art Foundry, Sam has a MA from Morehead State University. She has six years of experience as a product designer in the lighting industry and many years as a gallery owner/maker. She and her wife, Jen Pellerin, started Steelskin Studio in 2007 and although the brick and mortar store closed in early 2020, they continue to make work under the monicker. She has served on the artist advisory board for the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft in Louisville and as occasional snack provider for her three daughters soccer teams.
https://www.steelskinstudio.com
Bret Berry
Bret studied Sculpture and Music Technology at Bellarmine University before finishing a BA in Liberal Studies at University of Louisville, and later studied toward an MA in Ethnomusicology at Indiana University at Bloomington. Their current creative practices include sound art/ music, sculpture/ installation, and digital image making. They have been working as the mold-maker at Falls Art Foundry for two years.
https://obsoletestaircases.bandcamp.com/album/gestures
Jon Loyd
Jon Loyd is a sculptor, recent UofL 3D Art graduate and member of the Falls Art Foundry crew. In both his personal and professional making career, he is developing a growing familiarity with a variety of materials and processes, from wood, bronze and steel, to lathework, welding and metalcasting. He has been a longtime tinkerer and has spent his childhood fooling with all manner of doodads, miscellanea and mechanical devices. In the last four years has he brought his interests and skills to bear upon earnest artmaking. In his sculptural work, Jon utilizes wood, bronze and fiber to investigate intersectional questions of cultural, ethnic and racial identity. His professional work involves attending to various operations related to the lost wax casting process at Falls Art Foundry, and also art-related woodworking and metalworking for a range of clientele.