IN a world where death often remains an unspoken mystery, sculptor Leanna Gheseawan is passionately advocating for a transformative shift in the approach to honouring loved ones through life casting, and is challenging the taboo surrounding the delicate artform.
Similar to belly casting – a three-dimensional plaster sculpture of a pregnant woman's belly – life casting is done on a body part, most times the hand, of a dead person. But there is a major difference.
“A belly cast has a very surface-area finish, so there's no definition of the skin and belly because it is specific to pregnant woman. A life cast can be done on anyone, any body type, alive or deceased. It can even be done on pets as well on animals," Gheseawan, owner of the Couva-based Belly Casting told WMN.
The belly casting process involves laying wet plaster bandage over the belly at around 37 weeks into the pregnancy, then allowing it to harden to create a perfect replica of the pregnant form. With life casting, there are two basic methods of creating molds. The first uses the molding material into which the the body part, such as a hand or foot, is inserted until the material sets. The second method, usually reserved for larger body parts and faces, requires that the molding material be applied directly to the body part then secured with plaster bandages.
Gheseawan has done over 300 belly casts and close to 100 life casts on humans and pets.
[caption id="attachment_1022709" align="alignnone" width="669"] Life casting of a hand done by sculptor Leanna Gheseawan. - Elizabeth Gonzales[/caption]
She encourages people to embrace the power of memorialising their loved ones through sculpting. She said she is seeking to reshape the way loved ones are commemorated.
“People tend to do this when it's too late. It makes no sense. I reached a point that I don’t even try to market it to people to do it when there loved one is still here because again, people forget things and they prefer to take their money and spend it on something else. A lot of my jobs comes from grief.
“Some people may not understand why you want the hand cast (of a deceased person). They say, ‘that's weird, that's creepy,' but we have to not judge on how people grieve...It’s their coping mechanism, who are we to judge?”
[caption id="attachment_1022712" align="alignnone" width="678"] Leanna Gheseawan encourages people to embrace the power of memorialising their loved ones through sculpting. - Elizabeth Gonzales[/caption]
Gheseawan first started with belly casting in 2018 and soon after began trying life casting after learning the process through YouTube videos.
“Our eyes are now more exposed and our minds are more exposed to more things out there. So imagine ten years ago, doing something like this, and people couldn't really wrap their mind around what they were seeing.
“Belly casting isn’t a new concept, so when my friend was expecting, I said this would be something very fun and interactive to do with her. After I did my first belly cast with her she was very impr
