To See the World in a Grain of Sand
In the natural world we are surrounded by repetition of pattern and form. From the tiny spiral on a snail shell to the vast galaxy nebulas, these patterns self-reference and echo. Although nature contains certain chaos and changeability, these forms create order and a connection that can help us to make sense of life. My work aims to explore the interconnectivity of patterns and the mathematics of growth, set against this chaos and change. The work is constructed from a network of meshed layers, each layer hand drawn in porcelain using a slip-trailing technique onto a plaster bat. This process enables a degree of control but still, due to the fluidity of the material there is also unpredictability.
The firing process exposes the forms to temperatures that transform the flat sheets into organically curved elements. Each sheet is individually fired and then connected to create sculptural compositions. The cellular patterns create positive and negative spaces which allow light to pass through and create shadows on surrounding surfaces reflecting the whimsical changeability of nature.
The elements can be assembled, broken down and reassembled into new and diverse structures, making the piece versatile and able to be adapted to work within different spaces.
