Engaging with issues of cultural place and belonging, my work embodies vulnerability and fortitude. Reflecting on the basic human need to connect, and relating to nature’s malleable way of reproduction, the form is constructed by repetitive elements. The singular is supported by the whole and the whole is united by the singular. Working with clay is a continual dialogue with the form, exploring my ideas through construction. The process is fluid, ideas evolve.
In The Procession, connected clay vessels are emblems of our basic human needs, they are containers for carrying water or food. Reminiscent of armed human figures, they evoke both the notions of vulnerability and strength. Bonded together in multiple groups, they travel as one in a ceremonial procession, awakening a conversation about people, the individuals that connect to a group and the sense of security within.
Informed by my cultural background this work communicates on a personal and global level bringing the poetics of the past into the present to question the future.
stoneware clay, porcelain slip, dry glaze
36 x 66 x 55 cm
Finalist
Judges of the 20th Anniversary Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize: Dr Lara Strongman (Director Curatorial and Digital, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia), Joanna Capon OAM (Art Historian, Curator and Industrial Archaeologist) and Jenny Kee AO (Artist and Fashion Designer).
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