The world’s oldest ceramic artefact is a figure of a woman modelled out of mixture of clay, mammoth hair, sand and other fillers, fired to undergo a ceramic change and thus acquire its permanency. This small sculpture which could comfortably fill ones palm is called the Venus of Dolni Vestonice, and is believed to be the ripe old age of 25000 to 30000 years and was found in Moravia in the Czech Republic.
My own fascination with ceramics emerged from my summer work on various archaeological sites in the Czech Republic as well as the UK during my late teens and early twenties. Unearthing ancient ceramics brought me into close proximity with the makers who died millennia ago, yet their wares still carried the fingerprints of those who made them. This notion of nearly touching the touch of those potters fascinated me because very few creative disciplines can immortalise human creativity to such an extent as those creations of fired clay.
With the exception of some early figurative work my own practice has predominantly been that of a vessel maker and glaze researcher, yet the small sculpture of a woman who was unmistakably a lover and mother has always been a massive influence in my own creative life. This is why I have decided in 2018 ‘the Year of a Woman’ to create 365 palm-sized ceramic figures of a woman, each month represented through a different ceramics method. All 365 figures are numbered and upon completion of the making will all be documented and catalogued. They will subsequently be scattered throughout Europe’s landscape on route between my present home and my country of origin the Czech Republic.
About the technical aspect of the production of this installation:
- The installation is created by months of the year and each month is separated from the other by the use of a different ceramic making method or by subject matter.
- The materials include; terra cotta, white earthenware, crank, various stoneware clays, porcelain, and Egyptian paste. The making techniques used in the installation are: modelling, hand building, throwing, press moulding, and mixed media assemblage. The firing methods include stoneware reduction, earthenware, smoke-firing. The surface treatment includes leaving the clay bare as well as the use of various slips, stoneware glazes, earthenware glazes such as tin glaze (blue on white), transparent (cream ware), lead honey glaze, application of oily substance to the smoke fired components, felt tip pens, mixed media materials, and Egyptian Paste which is a self-glazing material.
In their form all the figures are designed to be hand held, but whilst some are made to stand up, others cannot and have to be propped up or lying down, or else are designed to be worn like jewellery.
With regards to carrying out the next stage of the intention I have no timeline or deadline. The installation was made to be scattered but the stage of the recording, cataloguing and the development of the concept by which this installation would be scattered but not entirely lost is still a work in progress. I am very interested in creating a deeper dialogue through this piece and therefore adopting the right methodology when eventually I will be ready to start distributing the figures is crucial. I would also like to exhibit the installation in other places before I start to disperse it.
Having had the experience of exhibiting the piece at Salisbury Arts Centre I know the reactions were sincere and deeply felt, and I would be interested in seeing how other audiences reacted and fed those reactions and impulses into the following steps of the art work.
The world’s oldest ceramic artefact is a figure of a woman modelled out of mixture of clay, mammoth hair, sand and other fillers, fired to undergo a ceramic change and thus acquire its permanency. This small sculpture which could comfortably fill ones palm is called the Venus of Dolni Vestonice, and is believed to be the ripe old age of 25000 to 30000 years and was found in Moravia in the Czech Republic.
My own fascination with ceramics emerged from my summer work on various archaeological sites in the Czech Republic as well as the UK during my late teens and early twenties. Unearthing ancient ceramics brought me into close proximity with the makers who died millennia ago, yet their wares still carried the fingerprints of those who made them. This notion of nearly touching the touch of those potters fascinated me because very few creative disciplines can immortalise human creativity to such an extent as those creations of fired clay.
With the exception of some early figurative work my own practice has predominantly been that of a vessel maker and glaze researcher, yet the small sculpture of a woman who was unmistakably a lover and mother has always been a massive influence in my own creative life. This is why I have decided in 2018 ‘the Year of a Woman’ to create 365 palm-sized ceramic figures of a woman, each month represented through a different ceramics method. All 365 figures are numbered and upon completion of the making will all be documented and catalogued. They will subsequently be scattered throughout Europe’s landscape on route between my present home and my country of origin the Czech Republic.
About the technical aspect of the production of this installation:
- The installation is created by months of the year and each month is separated from the other by the use of a different ceramic making method or by subject matter.
- The materials include; terra cotta, white earthenware, crank, various stoneware clays, porcelain, and Egyptian paste. The making techniques used in the installation are: modelling, hand building, throwing, press moulding, and mixed media assemblage. The firing methods include stoneware reduction, earthenware, smoke-firing. The surface treatment includes leaving the clay bare as well as the use of various slips, stoneware glazes, earthenware glazes such as tin glaze (blue on white), transparent (cream ware), lead honey glaze, application of oily substance to the smoke fired components, felt tip pens, mixed media materials, and Egyptian Paste which is a self-glazing material.
In their form all the figures are designed to be hand held, but whilst some are made to stand up, others cannot and have to be propped up or lying down, or else are designed to be worn like jewellery.
With regards to carrying out the next stage of the intention I have no timeline or deadline. The installation was made to be scattered but the stage of the recording, cataloguing and the development of the concept by which this installation would be scattered but not entirely lost is still a work in progress. I am very interested in creating a deeper dialogue through this piece and therefore adopting the right methodology when eventually I will be ready to start distributing the figures is crucial. I would also like to exhibit the installation in other places before I start to disperse it.
Having had the experience of exhibiting the piece at Salisbury Arts Centre I know the reactions were sincere and deeply felt, and I would be interested in seeing how other audiences reacted and fed those reactions and impulses into the following steps of the art work.