How can I use another artists work for a project of my own?

California....I want to use copyright protected art work to make soap molds. Can I do that? How do I find the owner of the copyrighted work?

Soap molds

Making soap molds of copyrighted art for commercial purposes without permission of the copyright holder is a violation of the copyright. If the copyright is registered (a copyright does not have to be registered to be valid), you can search the copyright office files at:
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/rb.html. If it is not registered, good luck finding the holder.