"uniCAN!" Rainbow Fur
oil painted Resin, 2026
24"x 36"x 32" (61cm x 91cm x 81cm)
Edition AP#1
if You CAN believe it… You CAN! achieve it!
First debuted at my Long Beach Museum of Art Solo Show, these “uniCAN!” sculptures were created to symbolize my belief in making the impossible possible… you CAN! achieve anything you put your mind to! :) I envision the “uniCAN!” joyfully dancing, getting ready to take off and soar towards their biggest and wildest dreams because... if you CAN! dream it, you CAN! achieve it :)
Original polished bronze “uniCAN!” at my 2022-23 Long Beach Museum of Art solo show
Originally sculpted from oil clay and casted into bronze, this larger and uniquely hand-oil-painted sculpture was created by a complex and time intensive process that was completely done in-house with JP Frey and of Unicorn Heavy Industries.
The process involved many steps: 3D scanning the original bronze sculpture, enlarging the model by 3x the mass, 3D printing each individual part (e.g. legs, wings, head, tail and body), recovering entire surfaces with oil clay and re-sculpting, making molds, casting molds, assembly/fabrication and, finally, oil painting.
Original bronze
3D scan
Because of the size and complexity of the new “uniCAN!”, each component had to be 3D printed separately.
“uniCAN!”s front right leg/paw
After all the pieces were 3D printed, each was recovered in oil clay and completely re-sculpted by me. This process was extremely time consuming however, it was very important to me. The surface beauty of oil clay that gave the original sculpture its organic-ness and life was something that had to be present in this new, giant “uniCAN!” sculpture.
“uniCAN!” in pieces. Seen in this photo are black 3D prints, reddish oil clay covered and sculpted components, transparent red resin casted foot and a white silicone foot mold.
Sculpting the body with oil clay
Once each piece was re-sculpted, mold were made of each piece in silicone and then casted in resin.
Wing being casted in silicone
JP Frey pouring resin into a silicone leg mold
Resin casted “uniCAN!” leg/paw
When all the “uniCAN!” components were casted in resin, it was finally time to piece him back together again. This process was the most difficult and required internal steel rods to provide strength so that “uniCAN!” would live a very long life.
Ryan Cabral and JP Frey attaching front left leg/paw