Sacred Vessel
Exhibition Text
Title: Open for Manipulation
Month of Completion: April 2016
Size: 91.44cm x 12.7cm
Medium: Ceramic, Glaze, Wire
This sculpture was inspired by the work of Adrian Arleo, an almost Surrealist-style ceramic sculptor. I chose this form to represent a sacred vessel because that is how I have always viewed my hands and the power they possess. I covered them with letters to showcase their ability to communicate, as I have always felt that my actions and creations spoke louder than my words ever could. I added the wires where nerves would connect the hand to rest of the body, to represent that they are part of a larger system and open to manipulation by the person that possesses them.
Month of Completion: April 2016
Size: 91.44cm x 12.7cm
Medium: Ceramic, Glaze, Wire
This sculpture was inspired by the work of Adrian Arleo, an almost Surrealist-style ceramic sculptor. I chose this form to represent a sacred vessel because that is how I have always viewed my hands and the power they possess. I covered them with letters to showcase their ability to communicate, as I have always felt that my actions and creations spoke louder than my words ever could. I added the wires where nerves would connect the hand to rest of the body, to represent that they are part of a larger system and open to manipulation by the person that possesses them.
Inspiration
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For this sculpture I found inspiration in clay sculptor Adrian Arleo. I really loved her work from 2003-2009, featuring human and animal forms completely covered in a honeycomb-like texture. I took that idea of stamped texture to my own project, but instead of honeycomb I embossed words, using quotes from books and poetry I loved. I also liked the way she fills in the texture with a slightly different glaze color than the rest of the piece, subtly emphasizing the textures without overpowering the rest of the piece. While hers often look very raw and bare, I used that only in one part of my piece and decided to go for a more polished glaze finish on the majority of the sculpture.
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Process
Beginning to build the handsShaping the fingers |
I came into this project with a lot of background knowledge because my mother has worked with clay since before I was born, so in turn I have developed my skill with clay over my entire childhood. However, I had never really made freeform, organic sculptures, mostly dishes and structured pieces, so this was a very different process for me. I found some instruction on the internet, specifically the Youtube video below. Using this I was able to follow along the artist’s techniques and applying my own experimentation and skill. One thing I learned from other artists right away is to create both hands at the same time, developing them at the same speed, and this way you can sculpt them much more symmetrically by applying the same thought process to both. I cut two thick slabs of clay, and cut them to about the same size as my own hands. I used my own hands as a model for almost everything, constantly comparing size and shape to keep my piece anatomically accurate. I continued building up both sides of the hands, adding clay for the knuckles, wrist and thumb area. Adding the thumbs was actually much easier than I thought because it was alright if they were rough at this stage, I would fine tune them later. Plus, I could use my own thumb as a model as I worked. After those were done, I laid my own hand over the clay piece, and traced to outline of my fingers. I cut those out, and began slowly trimming and rounding them to mimic the actual shape of my fingers. This process was very long and tedious, as it was difficult to really figure out how thin to carve them without going too far.
Eventually though I became used to the material and continued smoothing and shaping the palms and thumbs. This was not very difficult but it did take the most amount of time out of the whole project. Once I had the shaping finished, I started overlaying a stamped texture. I used alphabet stamps for this to better enhance the meaning of the piece, as discussed in the Meaning section. At first I was going to use them to emboss quotes from my favorite books and film, but I thought this might take away from the root meaning and focus it too much on the literature itself and not the artwork. I decided instead to randomize the letters, which I think could also allow the viewer to find their own words in the mess, and make it less about myself and more the concept discussed in the meaning. At this point I had to let the pieces dry or a few days before I could fire them. I learned that clay is very fragile in this state, after breaking off one of the fingers while moving them. Fortunately it was a clean break, so I let it dry and fired it simultaneously with the rest of the piece to attach later. After the first firing, I needed to glaze the piece. I used a spray gun to achieve a softer, blended look between a dark brown and a more sienna color, mimicking the earthy tones of the medium. I was going to spray a clear coat over this as I had always done before, but I decided not to in order to leave a rougher, matte finish that I felt better matched the overall look of the piece. |
Meaning
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Reflection
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I chose this form to represent a sacred vessel because that is how I have always viewed my hands and the power they possess, not only as a part of my body but as something larger, a connection to the rest of the world. I covered them with letters to showcase their ability to communicate, as I have always felt that my actions and creations spoke louder than my words ever could, and that at least for me it always seemed that creating something to express myself was much easier and simpler than trying to speak about it. I added the wires where human nerves would connect the hand to rest of the body, to represent that they are part of a larger system and open to manipulation by the person that possesses them. The same idea is shown through their hollow emptiness, they become simply a tool for any idea to fill.
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Ultimately I was pleased with the way this project turned out, although I had a few setbacks along the way. The process itself proved a bit difficult and time-consuming, although I enjoyed creating it. I actually feel more confident now when dealing with the shape of hands in my work, whether it's 2-D or 3-D, I always struggled with them but this project really helped me develop my skill in that area. I thought the shape and aesthetic of the piece came out very nicely, but to change one thing I would have changed the position of the hands as I don't think they really add anything to the piece by just being flat and open, and I could have taken that further.
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