The Body & Clay

I recently got an email asking me how the figure inspires my work in clay by a student who is studying for their degree. They are going to evaluate three contemporary artists and evaluate how they use the female form. It got me thinking, and it really helped me to organise my thoughts. I am giving an artist talk on Thursday so I want to say thank you to that student for sending that message, it really helped.

Here is my response. 

I think my interest in the figure and clay came about because of the obvious verbal connection, the 'foot' of the vessel, the 'body' of clay the 'neck'. I started to see my pots as characters, families, relations if each other. I then started reading books like 'The Body' by Lisa Blackman and this got me interested in the portrayal of the female form in media and art. I thought about how by displacing body parts it can be unsettling or even a bit funny, and why it is that nudity is still taboo in certain contexts and not others? 

I am still exploring along these lines at the moment. I am interested in the body as the seat of all our experiences, how the mind is sometimes seen as the 'real' us, body and mind become separate, the mind some how superior. The way the body is dressed and modified to send signals, the way the body is our vessel that contains us, our carriage in life. Impermanent, ageing, diseased, flexible, inflexible, resilient and quite amazing in every way inside and out. I think this fascination became more intense when I developed Raynauds and experienced other health problems that made me realise the fragility of this vessel that contains our being. 

It seems the body that contains us dictates very much who we become, male, female, black, white, Asian, gay, straight. Expectation is placed on depending which vehicle we are riding, some are pretty, some ugly, some able, some disabled. One thing is certain the body isn't permanent, all the atoms, minerals and molecules will go back into the melting pot at some point and be reformed into something else. There is finite oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus on our planet and our planet is good at recycling. 

Spiky Eggs

These are the last pieces out of the kiln for the show at Brentwood Road. Spiky and gold, developed out of the egg shapes that I first started making last year, I am pleased with these ones and plan to make more. Tactile, fragile, dangerous.

Tomorrow I am loading up the car with my life's work and driving it up to the gallery in Romford. I have started preparing for my artists talk, I will rehearse before hand to make sure it is not too boring, my poor husband john will have to listen!

All I have

Here is the lot, everything I have for the show other than the last 5 peices which are being finished off in the school kiln because mine is busted.

Hope it is enough to fill the space, a big old gallery, I hope they don't look like tiny blips lost in the folds of time.

Solo Show

Getting ready for my first solo show at The Brentwood Road Gallery . Its a big deal for me to have a show all to myself and I am really excited about doing it...and a bit worried!

Problem is, maybe its the weather I don't know I am just not feeling the making at the moment.

Despite not having posted on here for ages I have been busy making, so I have plenty of work for the show. I am about to go out to the garage to take stock on what I actually do have. I will post some pictures once I have assembled it all.

Lately I have been experimenting with Sea anemone like mini sculptures like this one which is waiting to be fired.....

Any hoo, will be back later on to sow you all the stuff I have made so far. I really hope it is enough only a few weeks to go!