Seems so long ago...

Almost two weeks ago now was a mid-term critique for my malleable object class.  Finally, after many weeks of work this project is now complete and this is what it looks like displayed on a wall.  It was so relieving to have it completed.  I wish the wall was in better shape but it will have to do until I get a better picture of it.  I was one of only a handful of people who had both of their projects completed in time for the critique.  My teacher, Dawn, was not too happy about the lack of effort and work put in by most students so hopefully our next and final critique will be much better.

To me, this piece is an inspiration for future pieces to come.  I really enjoyed using the majolica technique to paint on the surface of these tiles and the concept is really cool for me.  The center figure/creature is how I would picture myself if I were to be a combo-animal figure.  I could definitely see myself creating many more of these "plates" and displaying them together in a gallery.  The idea behind this is almost purely decorative.  I am attracted to patterns and bold colors and I am also a perfectionist.  This project allowed me to use all of that and I am a very process driven person with regards to my work.  I dedicate a lot of time to each of my pieces and I want to make it as clean and perfect as I possibly can.

My other project was casually placed in the studio on one of the tables that I would normally eat at on any given day.  This is just porcelain fired to temperature without any surface treatment added to it.  I didn't want to trick the viewer into thinking that it might have actually been real food by painting realistically because that isn't the point of this piece.  I wanted to call attention to the physicality of the clay and how even though it may look like something you would eat, you could not have it.  Also, being drained of all color is a metaphor for the lack of nutritional value that this meal contains.  I tried to make this project as detailed as possible.  I feel like I can almost smell the french fries!