Patricia Udell

Johnson Atelier worked with the artist Patricia Udell on the enlargement and creation of her abstract reclining nude series, which she started while in college. Patricia had produced several abstractions throughout her artistic practice and had been making miniature concrete cast versions of her sculptures for years. However, she wanted to finally create something at full scale for her property in Long Island.

The process was interesting. The artist drew a full-scale paper sketch to determine the correct size for her lawn. She then brought us an original small cast concrete maquette, which we scanned and digitally rescaled. After determining the final height, we engineered the work for casting in concrete, her desired material. We designed the subfooter and base and matched the scale to her full-scale drawing. We then milled large-scale waste molds in EPS foam for casting the work in concrete. Care was taken to reinforce the casting with rebar, and we designed an interior steel armature for ease of assembly since the work had to be cast in multiple parts due to its scale. We collaborated with our casting partner, Works in Stone, on the casting process, paying special attention to the mixture and the aggregate. Patricia was particularly inspired by Picasso’s concrete sculptures, even sending us a copy of Picasso’s book for reference as we determined the exact mixture to be used for the final cast work. After selecting the appropriate aggregate and surface finish, the work was cast in eight parts and shipped to their home for final installation. The Bold Arcs and Lines was installed in October 2022 at their property in Long Island.