Like photographs, my prints and sculpture are made from life; however, they are produced not with film or a camera but with a laser scanner and 3d imaging software. The scanner projects a beam of laser light over the body, which is recorded by a video camera in the handset. The video camera records the beam’s changing contours, and the scanner software generates from them a 3d computer model of the scanned form.

I use a Polhemus handheld device for my body scans; this scanner was also used in the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and new Star Wars movies. For the video Body/Traces, my husband David and I built a DIY laser scanner using Lego and a laser line level from Home Depot, and utilized the DAVID laser scanner software. For my most recent works I have used a LIDAR scanner, capable of imaging much larger areas, courtesy of Rensselaer Polytechnic’s Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering department. A similar device was used for the Radiohead video House of Cards.

The precisely engineered scanning technology I use was never designed to represent the body, which is always in flux. Confronted with motion, the software receives conflicting spatial coordinates, and generates a fragmented model. This model is then edited – virtually ‘sculpted’ – using 3d editing software.

The prints are then rendered in 3d animation and rendering software, and digitally printed using a Lambda or inkjet process and archival paper. The sculptures are prepared for stereolithography and then sent to a 3d printer, where they are prototyped in a range of materials including wax (for lost wax bronze casting), epoxy resin and plaster, and laser-sintered nylon. For more on this process, otherwise known as rapid prototyping, see the Wikipedia article.