Luis Montoya and Leslie Ortiz have been creative partners for more than 20 years. Collectively, they call themselves "Popliteo," and under this moniker, the West Palm Beach duo produces enormous, hyper-realistic sculptures of fruit, vegetables, shells and mollusks using the lost-wax casting process. Basically, the subject is carved from wax, covered in clay, and then fired. This causes the wax to melt away, leaving behind a clay shell that serves as the mold in which the bronze is cast. To achieve the brilliantly colored, glasslike surface, the bronze is welded, polished and patinated (i.e., colored). See a selection of finished works in all their exaggerated, vibrant glory at the Tampa Museum of Art beginning this weekend. Luis Montoya and Leslie Ortiz: Revisions of Nature, Sept. 30-Jan. 7, 600 N. Ashley Drive, Tampa, $8 adults/$6 seniors and military/$3 students and children, 813-274-8732, www.tampamuseum.com.
This article appears in Sep 27 – Oct 4, 2006.