Rapunzel.
Rapunzel trapped in a tower waiting to be rescued by her 'knight in shinning armour'. A myth we have all grown up with, a damsel in distress rescued by a man who she then marries. I felt an affinity to Rapunzel this term, she is confined to her tower, I sometimes felt, " I'm overwhelmed by my own belongings and mess in this room, I look outside and see grey concrete, white walls, I have to go further afield, to the beach, to the park to clear my head and refocus. " - journal extract. Nature is creeping into Rapunzel's room, connecting her to outside, the birds are just out of her reach, they are free to fly wherever they like. I wanted this piece to reflect on how we often take freedom for granted, especially as a women, when there are many repressed people in the world. I managed to bisque fire this pot but decided to not to add a glaze as I didn't want the colours to fade which is what happened in my test glaze session. |
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Dancing colour
Journal extract - "experiment with colour and shape and texture, exploring the female form in colour. How does colour create texture, light and shadow to create an image." This is a test piece for the kiln to see how colours changed in the heat, not just the paint but the clay itself, turns dark, intensified by heat. The three stages, unfired, bisque and glazed all cause change, the end result almost being unrecognisable from the unfired piece. I like all three stages for this piece, each having beauty in different ways. I like to think of this in life also, every stage of life has challenges but it is what you make of it and you must find the beauty in it. |
Swan lake
A story of a woman who's freedom is taken away when she is cursed to live as a swan by day, her human form only appearing at night. I love the shapes in this piece, the sense of movement and the contrast with the image on the dark clay. With this piece I wanted the qualities of the clay itself to have importance as well the image. I hoped to suggest that Odette could find her freedom on her own terms and enjoy being both human and swan with no restriction. This piece has been bisque fired but not glazed and the colouring has changed dramatically, I prefer the paler pink unfired version of the lady so will have to experiment with colours further. |
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Floating
This piece is an attempt to convey my feelings during this term. "I feel overwhelmed, in limbo, like I'm floating in the sea but cannot move my head and look up to see where I am, how close I am to land. Who I am? What am I doing? What should I do next? Am I doing the right thing?" - journal extract It explores the anxiety of feeling unsure with yourself as an artist and what the future holds. Carved into the neck is an extract from 'Wide Sargasso Sea' in which Antionette doesn't recognise herself in the mirror and feels its coldness on her lips when she tries to kiss herself. This resonated with me, the feeling of not knowing entirely who you are. The cracks in the pot are not ideal but taught me to document my work as soon as possible as damage can happen easily with fragile ceramics that are yet to be fired. The cracks have relevance as they can be fixed, like in Japanese Kintsugi celebrating the beauty in imperfection. I didn't have time to fire this piece as it was too big to fit in the kiln with other pieces but I like the paleness of the colours and hope to fire it in the future when I have more knowledge of glaze and firing temperatures. |
This is another piece exploring colour as texture and how coloured shapes can create a whole image. It is inspired by a postcard of a standing figure by Henri Matisse that I have on my wall. This is one of the first pieces I got fired, and the fired piece is very different from how it started out, even from its bisque state. I love the ghostly feel it gives it when glazed the hint of a form or shadow. It has a tribal, earthy quality and reminds me a little of early cave paintings.
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Reaching
With this bowl I wanted to celebrate the clay its self so I painted as minimally as I could, celebrating the female form and its beauty. The darkness of the clay contrasting with the pale skin. The body spreads itself around the pot and in an exhibition setting I would encourage the audience to pick up the bowl and turn it round to fully see the figure but also to feel the texture of the clay. I would like to bisque fire this bowl in the future but not glaze fire it so the texture remains. |
Embrace
Journal extract- "I'm missing human touch, connection and embrace by those I love. When I was younger I refused hugs from family members, this makes me sad now. Why did I refuse them? awkward teenage angst and confusion I suppose. Now I don't think there is anything better than a big hug, an all consuming embrace. Bodies intertwined, becoming part of each other, the feeling of safeness and comfort." I would like to add a textured glaze to this piece in the future but like its blankness by being unglazed as the viewer might perhaps see themselves in anonymous quality of the piece. |
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Selkie
Here I wanted to tell the story of the Selkie, a mythical sea creature that can shed its skin to take on the human form. I remember my mum reading me the story when I was younger of a fisherman who falls in love with a selkie but becomes jealous when she returns to the sea so hides her fur so she cannot return and she is trapped with him. She becomes so desperate she flings herself into the sea but without her fur, dies. She frees herself from her entrapment and becomes part of the sea again. I remember thinking why doesn't she just stay on land with the fisherman, surely its not worth her life. Now I understand freedom shouldn't be taken for granted and that love doesn't mean possession. This piece has not been fired but I hope to fire it in the future. |
Shim Chung
This the story of a woman who sacrifices herself to save her father who owes the gods. The sea king takes pity on her and takes her to live with him and his son underwater. I wanted to depict her as happy and free underwater, on land she would be restricted, being a woman she would have to marry to be secure and would have no freedom (when eventually returning to land , this is exactly what happens). She would be somebody else's possession. I feel connected to the ocean and it often features in my work. Perhaps it is because it is free from the restrictions of society, it feels like a place where you can be yourself. This piece has also not been fired as I only work with a small kiln and rely on others to allow me fire pieces. |
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Midsummer Nights Dream
A story of deceit and misunderstanding all under the forests protecting branches. I wanted to explore the comedic aspect of this story but also the exploration of beauty being in the eye of the beholder. There is a sinister undertone throughout this story where free will is taken from the characters when a love potion is given to them without their knowledge meaning they are matched up, they find love but feels somewhat like a fake love that not all involved have chosen for themselves. I wanted to depict Queen Titania almost becoming her surroundings, as fairies often do and her being the Queen of the fairies, hence the colours of her dress and the background colour of the pot. This piece has been bisque fired and I love the extra depth the darker colour gives it. There was slight damage to this piece after firing but it was fixable. |
Sleeping women
Inspired by Lorna Graves who works with themes of a closeness with nature and often has a sense of the morbid within her work. I wanted to create some smaller pieces suggesting the peacefulness of being somewhere quiet in nature. These pieces are very tactile and I would hope an audience would have the opportunity to hold each piece in their hands. Only one of my sleeping ladies survived the kiln, this was probably due to not wedging the clay, one was salvageable and I plan to use a blue speckled glaze around the body, this will also soften sharp edges hopefully and a clear glaze all over. |
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With this piece I was hoping to explore the shape and creases made in the body when it is in motion. It was inspired by an image of a old cloth dolls torso which made me think about the body in its rawest form. This image of the dolls body is instantly recognisable as a body despite its simplicity. I hope this comes across in my piece.
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I was able to have a go using a potters wheel this term and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I managed to make several small pieces which will be fired and glazed.
I also managed to gain access to a kiln which meant I could fire some of my pieces. I have wanted to be able to fire my work since I started making ceramics but was unable to due to lockdown restrictions and social distancing. I was so pleased to be able to give my pieces durability and experiment with glazes this term. |
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