Sculptures
.ORGANIC.INORGANIC.
Organic forms and shapes as well as the repetitive patterns as one can only see in nature are the source of my inspiration and where I get most of my ideas.
The feeling of well-being humans feel when surrounded by nature is explained by many things.
For me, one of them are patterns: the construction of shapes and textures that are assembled in the most perfect way even though they look as if it has been chaotically created. We can only be in awe when facing such perfection, when it has been untouched by human activity.
When looking at nature’s organic shapes (= the perfect juxtaposition of leaves, moss, wood, mushrooms, bushes, etc.), we can feel the vivid life that emanates from them. And it makes us feel a peculiar sense of pleasure and contentment.
How could an artist transcribe this pleasure in its art? And what does organic mean?
When facing a non-living matter, what quality should this matter have in order to have an « organic look »?
This is with these questions in mind that I have worked on the collection « .Organic.Inorganic. ».
Searching for an organic feel, the pieces have all been decorated by various matters disposed in a repetitive and intuitive pattern. The matters used are not hiding the ceramic piece but follow its forms to be a complete part of it. It gives them an organic look and triggers those positive emotions I am looking to stimulate to the viewer.
Some of the pieces from this collection have been created around the design of plant pots. With the shape of the ceramic and the decoration described above, the whole pot and plant become one living entity.
The pieces are created in ceramic (sandstone) and have been fired twice at a maximum of 1250°C in a gas kiln. They have not been enameled and therefore showcase the roughness of the clay once the second fire is finished.
BROKEN ART?
The pieces from this collection are created in ceramic (sandstone) and have been fired twice at a maximum of 1250°C in a gas kiln. They have not been enameled and therefore showcase the roughness of the clay once the second fire is finished.
In the art of ceramic, retrieving broken pieces out of the kiln are part of the process. Many variables can make a piece break in the kiln. For example air bubbles stuck in the clay or ceramic pieces that have not dried enough and are therefore still moist when fired.
But are these pieces’ place straight in the garbage bin?
Recycling and upcycling are part of our everyday language now and I wanted to replicate this concept to my broken pieces as well.
The Japanese have long understood this concept with their Kintsugi process. The embellished broken ceramic fragments are glued back together with lacquer and gold, leaving a gold seam where the cracks were. This will give them a new, more refined aspect.
The pieces of the « Broken Art? » Collection have been glued back together with acrylic glue mixed with black paint.
The color black has been chosen (and not transparent) in order to highlight the patterns of the cracks that have been randomly created during the fire in the kiln. These patterns give the piece a unique look that can never be duplicated.
As always, there is a search for organic shapes through the pieces’ form and texture.
The form of the vessels from this collection remind us of living organisms that would become the extensions of the plants that spring out of them. The black cracks that run through the pieces’ surface would remind us of veins that transport the vital nutrients to whole living organisms.
