Dean Young

A self-educated pioneering sculptor, Dean W. Young has encountered unique opportunities and technical challenges which have connected into a pioneering career in handcast Lucite art.

Handcast Lucite sculpture is extremely rare and Mr. Young's guarded secrets are tenaciously husbanded. It is a very expensive and problematic medium for which there no schools nor detailed literature on techniques and effects.

In Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, Kansas City, and now Naples, Dean Young has limited the availability of his work. The medium restricts his ability to produce in quantity, each piece being a "one only" work.

Lucite comes in two parts -- a clear liquid monomer and a super fine white powder. The parts need to be hand mixed. During the mixing stage coloring agents can also be added; however, the powder makes the mix totally opaque. A change in proportions of ingredients will affect the strength, size and hardness of the final casting. When a mix of Lucite is prepared, only a small window of time is available to pour the mixture. The viscosity of the Lucite changes by the minute, impacting the coloration effects in the design.

Mr. Young's castings require numerous multiple pours, each must remain undisturbed until firm. Temperature and formulation of ingredients determine the speed of each set. The Lucite must be cured in an autoclave under heat and pressurized gas for up to two days after it has set, and a mistake in heat, pressure or timing can ruin a casting.

After each curing, every flat surface must be cut; rough, medium and fine sanded; then buffed and polished by hand.

As Mr. Young writes, "... it is an expression of the balance of our human experience in encounters of colors, light and shapes."