Davide Prete

Assistant Professor
University of District of Columbia
Washington DC

My latest experiments blend traditional sculptural techniques with 3d printing and laser scanning.
Using toroidal warping of a truncated Scherk minimal surface shapes, I made a series of work that use 3D modeling and 3D printing as first step for the creation of complicate mathematical shapes.
I also experimented a lot, since 2010, with lost ABS, Nylon, PLA casting where 3D printed materials take the place of wax in a reinterpretation of the original casting technique.
I can explore different sizes and made in different materials thanks to the latest 3D printed technologies.
For example, materials such as SLA 3D printing technologies allow me to 3D print in transparent resin, that helps in the visualization of the internal structure.

Inside Minimal Surface
Inside Minimal Surface
50 x 50 x 1 cm
Print on Aluminum
2019

In this series of work, I used an internal visualization of the structure of a minimal surface.
The concept is related to an exploration of making visible what we can not normally see from outside.
Moving the point of view in different internal areas of the model and playing with the transparency of the material, gives me the pretext to explore different visualizations.

Nest
Nest
12 x 10 x 10 cm
3D Printed Resin
2019

The sculpture Nest is modeled from a toroidal warping of a truncated Scherk minimal surface.
The frosted 3D printed resin gives the opportunity to visualize how the shape is bending and twisting giving an interesting change in tonal values.