The project The Body is a Vessel came to fruition as an attempt to feature the connection of the material aspect of clay as it mirrors the physical bodily experience as no other. A block of clay is a "clay body", it can get “tired”, it bends, it wears, it is strong and fragile all the same. “Clay is not just one thing, it is a material composed of many different components in varying amounts”. Similarly, the human body is not just one thing. We have many different bodies; the physical, the spiritual, the emotional, etc. We are all multiple fragmented identities in one body.
The series focuses specifically on the face. The face can be thought of as the part of the body which is most expressive. As the body is often seen as the vessel for the soul, in antiquity the face was seen as the seat of the soul. The center of one self. The eyes, the mirror of the soul.
For this series I use a reproduction of my own face, an analogue version of copy-paste in a way. Yet, not one is exactly the same and none of them actually look like me. Reflecting how one person can have different faces, different selves that came out depending on the context. The warped faces represent the anxiety and stress inherent in contemporary daily life. Getting lost in one's mind's eye as the focus becomes projections of ourselves in the future, rather than staying present and grounded in the here and now. This type of distortion is what I embody with this work. Utilizing the alchemy of glaze, I accentuate the different dimensions. Exploring boundaries and challenging both the material as well as my own practice. I constantly search for ways to innovate and further the ceramic body.
Working with ceramic is a way of centering for me. As I throw a clay body on the wheel, the focus becomes the relation between the clay and my hands shaping it. Centering myself by centering the clay: it becomes a meditative practice. The ritualistic aspect of the ceramic process is what returns me to myself, to my body. As my hands become the medium through which the clay becomes its final form, my body is the vessel for this collaboration. A dialogue between my physical body and the clay body. Each piece I create is a reflection of me.
Many cultures around the globe have their own practice and rituals of working with clay, moreover it is one of the first mediums through which humans have expressed and explored themselves.
In the studio
The Body is a vessel work in progress
