12x stoneware urns with porcelian ‘bones’ covered in wax
This work explores the connection between bones and bodies and how they are presented and stored after death. Working mostly in ceramic, I have created bone-like forms from clay, wheel-thrown urns and some wax works.
Using ceramics creates a pseudo-bone-like surface texture, creating a visceral connection between the materials and concept.
I have used organic texture as a main inspiration for my work in the past and as a ceramicist, there is a deep sensory connection with my practice, which inspires lots of my work.
There is a layered relationship with the body through my practice, my touch and my experience making the work on the wheel, the clay bodies mined from the earth, ground bones as an additive ingredient with the clay, the representation of bones and the lidded urns which could hold ashes of the deceased.
My intention with this work is to spark difficult conversations about how we choose to represent the dead and a societal discomfort with the familiarity of death.
I was inspired by my own experiences with death following the unexpected death of my father in 2019. I was confronted and fascinated with death rituals and rites and the presentations of death and bodies, which lead to a practice of making ceramic cinerary urns.
installation photos bellow