The making of – Bless Me Child For I Have Sinned
Glass Confessional
This is the drawing I made on the plane from Dublin to Los Angeles after my mother Peggy told me she didn't want to go to Mass anymore because of what the priests had done to the children. April 23, 2010
My first Maquette of the confessional. June 3, 2010
Plexiglas prototype confessional in Trina’s studio. Photo: Rubin Diaz
In order to work out the engineering and aesthetic details, I built a Plexiglas prototype. Upon its successful completion, I was then able to start building the confessional out of Star Fire glass. Pictured here is a simulation of the dimensions of the structure in the glass fabrication facility in Los Angeles.
Composite molding and thorns attached to the new glass structure that was just delivered to my studio. October 8, 2011
After successfully going through the first round of copper plating, we were making sure that the crown molding fitted perfectly together and there were no gaps in the corners.
It you look carefully, you'll notice that the front crown molding is in its raw composite state fitted side by side with a length of molding and thorns that are plated. This is proof of how difficult the plating process was. The front molding, with no explanation, warped in the copper plating bath and we had to make a new one, which had to go through 2 processes to come out perfectly. This happened 3 days before Christmas in 2012.
The thorns in their copper state fitting perfectly with the nickel-plated crown molding that had been successfully plated.
The front molding successfully plated and the thorns clamped to them to be fitted. March 8, 2013
This was a big day. All 14 glass panels were installed in my studio along with the metal roof frame that was designed to hold the structure together. I didn't know until this moment that the glass and roof would work seamlessly together. September 25, 2012
The marble being fabricated.
December 3, 2012. Prepping to go for plating.
Jan 7, 2013. This molding is ready to go back to be plated.
When the crown molding and the thorns were successfully nickel-plated, we had to clamp them to the confessional to make sure that they fitted perfectly and the thorns lined up seamlessly at the corners. I had no idea how complicated the plating was going to be as the components had to be submerged into a copper bath first and then a nickel bath. Because I was using a composite material that the plating company didn't commonly plate they couldn't guarantee the outcome. The copper layer process added some dimension to the molding and we had to sand it down to make it fit. It may have been just a millimeter but when you want the corners to meet perfectly that is a big gap. This is an example of unforeseen challenges that sometimes seemed insurmountable.
It was my intention that the confessional was going to travel to different venues. I wanted to have cases built like it was going on tour like a Rock Band. By sheer coincidence, as I was mulling over this new challenge, my sister-in-law, Mary introduced me to her good friends Jan and Muffie Alejandro, who owned a Company called Janal Cases. They made touring cases for major bands and orchestras etc. Jan came to my studio and measured each and every component of the confessional and they got right to work in their factory.This is a photo of one of the cases they built for me to take Confess on the road.
The confessional in my studio with one of the cases I had made to transport the work.
