Portrait of my Parents

Portrait of my Parents

My father is a dentist and my mother is an orthodontist. I contribute my interest in mold making and casting to their vocation and a youth filled with experiments using dental alginate and plaster.

Taking impressions of peoples teeth is an important part of any dental practice. It is a fairly intimate act as you must be up close and personal with the patient’s teeth, gums and saliva. These are all parts of the body not usually shared with the general public. I wondered how often, if ever, my parents had taken dental impressions of each others teeth.  I asked them to do just that. I used the molds to cast their teeth into bronze. The piece functions as a diptych portrait of my parents. Much can be known about a person based on their dental records. This piece forever preserves the existence of my mother and father through their teeth.