METASPHERE 1974+5 332 hours of work to create 3 days to print World’s first painted photo-sculpture Created in Elliott's studio in Buckfastleigh, Devon 60 Spheres 21 Colours Elliott was 23 when he started it and 24 when he finished it Created between Nov 1974 and Feb 1975 Elliott created the entire image himself without assistance No images were taken of the work in progress to sustain mystery Dust from endless sanding and honing of the sculpture made Elliott ill twice (despite wearing a mask) Elliott mixed all the colours, to harmonising but simultaneously contrasting hues He used a ‘stipple’ brush technique to eliminate any reflections Changed camera mid shoot from a Nikkormat FTN to a NIkon F2 for 100% viewfinder accuracy Metasphere several times broke the record price for a contemporary artist photographer Inspired by Elliott’s fascination with quantum mechanics and astronomy as a young man Elliott created the word ‘Metasphere’. It means ‘beyond the sphere’ The image has no scale of reference or recognisable objects It is paradoxically both abstract and figurative Elliott re-shot the image 3 times (4 attempts). Kodachrome took 10 days to process It was bigger than most people think, to eliminate flaws, as retouching was not then possible The sculpture was destroyed on completion Exposure was 8 seconds at f16 The Cibachrome Deluxe print exposure was 8 minutes at f8 The Cibachromes were limited to a world edition of 10 originals It sold out in the Nineties Exceptionally, the Artist paid for his own work and bought some back One immaculate, pre-owned 36 inch masterpiece is available for sale It was hand printed by Elliott on Cibachrome Deluxe, a high end process, using custom made equipment. There are no proofs. Elliott considers proofs 'unfinished work' The house where it was created no longer exists Shot on 35mm format with a high resolution film called Kodachrome II, which was 25 ASA (ISO) It is one of the artist's early 'Symphonies For The Camera' Highest price so far is £25,500 (£48,300 adjusted) The photo sculpture took a month of filing, honing, sanding and smoothing, to perfect