Illusion of clay
Working on this collection, I challenged the natural clay to take on impossible characteristics. I challenged it to pretend to be other materials and to have unexpected textures. The clay takes on the texture of cardboard, wire mesh, beaten metal work, and the observer must touch it to verify what it is made of.
This collection emphasizes the abundant versus the deficient, the full versus the lacking, the - have versus have not. I did this by creating holes, spaces, coils and attachments. Here I have
stretched the boundaries of my abilities and those of the clay, in an experimental process generating extraordinary results. The creations in this collection look vulnerable, breakable and delicate, while in fact they are strong and durable. Their durability and strength stems from firing them at a high temperature along with the meticulous hand work, attaching coil after coil, strip after strip of extremely fine threads of clay to each other, with patience and precision.
