Magdel Strydom

BA (Hons) Ceramics


These pots display upon their every surface the journey they took from bag of clay to where they are now curated. This is because clay has a unique memory, and immortalises our impact upon it, which can act as a reminder of our responsibility to the earth.
The fingerprints and pinches inherent in their making; the occasional prints in their interiors left by the paper that supported them whilst coming into being, as well as even the cracks across them that came about from having to dry in order to be fired, are all evidence of this journey and the processes involved.

I have been challenged by their construction and fulfilled by their completion. Coil building them in a deliberate and palpable fashion in order to fully display their process has made them vulnerable in places. This is further compounded by keeping them as clay by only firing them to 450 degrees, avoiding the chemical reaction at 573 degrees necessary to turn them into Ceramic. This is a conscious choice as it enables them to be reclaimed back into malleable clay in order to celebrate the material and allow for the process of building to be repeated at least once more. At the heart of this work is that celebration of clay and the accompanying enjoyment of process.

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