Contemporary cast iron art cupola furnaces retain gynepomormic female elements, the process of melting iron is informed by industrial blast furnaces yet reflects the imagery and personal scale of traditional smelting furnaces. Gestation and running furnaces are mimetic to one another, a reproductive paradigm. The ore, the metal and the artwork all contain embryonic semblance. The symbolism within furnaces is evident just by looking at drawings depicting the inner workings of bloomeries, blast furnaces and cupolas and comparing them with female anatomical diagrams.
