Exhibition Project at John Abbott College demands at least 3 major works in both 2D and 3D.
After giving up on a plaster piece, I turned to clay, even though I had wrestled with it and cried a few times in previous semesters.
I wanted to do something involving the female figure, but not in a traditional, idealized way. I did not want to emphasize femininity or sexuality of women; rather, I wanted to portray the pressure of a hypersexualized society and its consequences.
Some weeks were spent mashing, mushing, pounding, scraping and punching obscene amounts of stoneware clay. The picture below shows approximately 8 hours of work, most of which was spent mashing the clay into hollow box shapes to allow for proper firing in the kiln. Anatomy and detail were added after the structure was done.
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| Two of four pieces partly worked through. |
Finally, I went in to school one weekend and powered through. I was in the dusty ceramics studio all day and well into the evening. I did what I could to the surfaces of the pieces, each containing various amounts of moisture due to the long gaps between working periods. Eventually, I became tired. I pressed some staples into the surface of the clay, hoping the metal would not be entirely incinerated in the kiln. I was almost out of time, so a glaze would probably not happen.
The next time I saw the pieces, they were out of the kiln and cooled.
Drool...........
Now that I see them, I don't think I want them glazed!
Final sanding and presentation is all I have left to do. And boy, am I excited for that!
"Niptuck"
Bisqued stoneware, staples
10" x 20" x 4"
2014
