Project 01: Gift Expanded

The Gift I Brought

The original gift I brought to class was a piece of honeycomb from my beehive. I chose it because I see it as something connected to both care and labor. It is something made collectively and organically, and I’ve always found it to be beautiful and meaningful.

How I Re-Engaged with My Gift

Starting with 3D printing led me to think about how I could expand the piece beyond just the printed object. While working with the honeycomb model, I kept coming back to the

material itself — honeycomb is made from wax, and wax is another product of bees. I wanted to bring that material connection into the work to create a stronger conversation between the natural and the artificial.

Rather than using wax from my own hives, which would have taken more time to prepare, I decided to use materials I found at Materials for the Arts. They had both wax pellets and crayons, which I used to build up the sculptural elements. This choice not only tied the project back to bees and honeycomb but allowed me to experiment more freely with color, texture, and form without worrying about depleting resources from my hives.

The combination of 3D printing and wax let me create something more layered and dynamic than I originally planned. Working with both mediums expanded my ideas about how to integrate natural references with synthetic tools.

What Surprised Me

I was surprised by how much the materials pushed the project in directions I didn’t expect. I thought I could control the wax, but it had its own behavior. It broke, cracked, and fell off at times, which forced me to keep adjusting my approach.

I also didn’t realize how fragile the structure would become as I added more wax. It made me rethink how I was building and taught me to stop before adding too much weight.

What really surprised me in the end was how much I enjoyed the problem-solving. Re-melting broken pieces and trying again became part of the process. The contrast between the blue wax and orange vase also wasn’t planned, but it became one of my favorite parts of the final piece.

What I Made

I combined 3D printed honeycomb structures with wax candle-making techniques. I sourced materials from Materials for the Arts, including an orange vase to act as the base, wax pellets, and crayons. I initially planned to use wax from my own hives, but I decided against it. Extracting and filtering would have been too time-consuming and I didn’t want to disturb

the bees unless necessary.

The final form came through experimenting. I melted wax, poured it over the honeycomb structure, and manipulated it by dipping it in water to let the wax harden in interesting shapes. I liked how the wax seemed to devour or erode the rigid geometry of the 3D print. It became a conversation between something structured and something organic.

The contrast between the orange vase and the blue wax really brought the piece together. I also liked thinking of the vase as part of the sculpture, not just a support, playing with the idea of the readymade.

Documentation of Learning

3D honeycomb model from Gian Pablo Villamil

I sourced the 3D honeycomb model from Gian Pablo Villamil, whose work I found on Thingiverse. His design served as the foundation for my 3D prints, which I later modified and expanded using Tinkercad.

I also gathered reclaimed materials from Materials for the Arts and referenced basic candle-making tutorials to understand wax melting techniques. Much of my learning came from hands-on trial and error through the process itself.

I duplicated & combined the 3D Model I found on Thingiverse in Tinkercad

Early 3D Print Prototypes

Originally planned to 3D print a wax mold, but wanted to make a more organic wax structure

sketch after I cut a hole in the 3D print, I wanted to create organic ribbons using the wax

I initially started pouring inside a bucket but I needed more room to work with so I expanded to the full bathtub

wrapped a pillow in a plastic bag and put a towel ontop to transport this back to ITP from my apt

notes from process

What I Would Do Differently

If I had more time, I would practice more with wax techniques before applying them directly to the final piece. I would spend time experimenting with how to control the shape and flow of the wax more intentionally, rather than learning through trial and error on the actual 3D print.

I would also revisit the 3D printing process. I would print a larger honeycomb structure to give the piece more visual impact and a stronger foundation. I’m also interested in experimenting with breaking up the honeycomb into smaller sections and placing them in different areas of the wax drips. That could create more moments of tension between the synthetic honeycomb and the organic qualities of the melted wax, allowing them to interact in unexpected ways.

Finally, I would think more about stability and how to make the piece easier to transport. I learned a lot about the limits of the materials and how important it is to plan for how they will behave over time.