Too Long…

I’m deep in third year work now, but that’s no excuse for not keeping up to date! I’ve decided to continue with the themes I was working with last year, with death and celebration being the main focus of my endeavours. I have been super busy, with making incredible amounts of glaze tests – from ash glazes to raku and smoke firings, to earthenware and tin glazes. Below is my presentation statement, so you can get a feel for my ideas…

“Death is something we are often faced with in our lives, and it is one of the most challenging and difficult experiences we have to endure. However, through the pain and sadness, beauty and relief can still be found.

Clay is the perfect material for exploring these concepts; it has warmth, beauty and comfort. Clay has a memory and malleability; it remembers its past, which enriches its future.By exploring these material properties, and how people would like to be remembered or treated in death, I have created a collection of cremation urns designed for a single person to be scattered by many people, in different places.

The way in which the urns are finished reflects different inspirations; how other cultures respond to death, what the ashes can be used for, how the body itself goes through the same process through cremation, as a pot does in a kiln firing, and my own personal response to the notion of my passing.”

Back-tracking and lots of images and posts soon to follow!