The
Making Of
Adapted from George Petrides’ chapter “From Clay to Code to Bronze: Making Thalia” in Hellenic Heads: Legacy and Renewal (2026), pp. 27–33.
The catalogue photographs document Thalia and the artist’s wider studio process, not the fabrication of Janus of Love itself. Thalia is the portrait from which the double-headed work developed.
The starting point
Janus of Love developed from Thalia, Petrides’ portrait of his mother. Ms Silvia Schwarzer’s concept gave that existing head a new purpose: two expressions joined in a single sculpture.
Research
For Thalia, a sculpture in the Vatican Museums and a photograph of the artist’s mother as a young woman were starting points. Petrides worked from her likeness and thoughtful expression.
Clay modelling
Petrides models the head in clay, altering its proportions, texture and expression by hand. This physical study provides the starting point for the digital work.
3D scanning
A handheld 3D scanner records the clay surface. Software turns those measurements into an editable digital model.
Digital sculpting
In Blender, Petrides adjusts the form, tests proportions and changes scale before preparing the model for fabrication.
Printing
The studio’s large-format printer, SculptBot, builds the form layer by layer. Recycled PETG recovered from medical packaging is used for works including Janus of Love.
Reworking by hand
The printed form is cut, rebuilt and reworked by hand. It may be scanned and printed again as the sculpture develops.
Metal finishing
Janus of Love has a brass coating over recycled PETG. Other works in Petrides’ practice are cast in bronze using the lost-wax process, illustrated below.
Patina
A custom blue patina and brass highlights complete Janus of Love. Colour and light reveal the marks and recesses of the worked surface.
Recording the finished work
A final scan and photographs record the finished sculpture before it leaves the studio.
Text adapted from the artist’s catalogue chapter; chapter photography reproduced from the artist-supplied catalogue. Process images show related works. The account above distinguishes bronze casting from the brass-coated construction of Janus of Love.