I will be meeting Caroline on Wednesday the 13th of March for a tutorial discussion. The following are some creative experiments and ideas that I would like to discuss: when we meet.
During our break:
1) Improving my studio setup
Besides resting and rebalancing my life during the break between unit 1.2 and 1.3, I took some time to rethink and add to my studio setup in preparation for making work in this unit. In particular, I needed to set up a more ergonomic clay-work station, add shelves for work that needs to dry as well as adding more storage.
I felt the need to work with clay during our break. Besides the soothing and regulating qualities of clay that I was craving, I also wanted to develop my pottery skills. I wanted to see if/how I could incorporate it into my fine art practice by combining it with other methods and materials (more about this later). Seeing that I have been processing natural earth pigment to use in 2 dimensional artwork, using clay as a material for 3 dimensional work felt right. I also own a kiln so it just made sense to put it to good use again. I was curious to see if the yellow clay soil from my backyard (which I made into a pigment in unit 1.2) could be processed to become a workable wild clay…
2) Keeping busy
Seeing that we had our long summer break over December and January (nearly 2 moths of school break!), I needed to take art materials that could travel with us and would be fun for my children to play with if I needed to keep them busy. I was able to take clay, a mobile pottery wheel and some tools. Besides getting a new puppy and keeping 3 children occupied, this is what kept me intrigued together with an obsession to find other sources for wild clay. It has been so special and satisfying to be able to source my materials from nature, that the idea of sourcing my own clay fascinated me.
2) Wild clay!
Back at home towards the end of the school holiday, I decided to process the yellow clay soil from my backyard to see if I could use that as a wild clay to make vessels or even sculptures. This ended up being the most satisfying exploration with a happy ending…the most beautiful workable wild clay! I still can’t believe it.
Here is a video showing my process:
A sense of agency
I recently had a conversation with somebody about the difference between autonomy and agency. Our current culture celebrates autonomy when referring to freedom. Autonomy is the right to make choices, getting what you want when you want it with relative ease. I think agency is a greater virtue than autonomy. Agency is earned when you develop the skills needed to find or do what you want without the external help of a supply chain, a shop of a ‘middle-man’. The type of agency I aspire to does not put human desires above the physical reality of the world and requires a deep engagement with the material. The problem is not any of the modern conveniences by themselves but rather that they make up our entire existence. We need suppliers for everything and we trust that they will do their sourcing of materials in an ethical way. Each time we engage with nature is some way to gain our raw materials naturally and ethically, we are reminded of a valuable resource that makes your work possible and in turn affects your relationship with the environment on a heart level.
If we’re ever going to grown into a global society that doesn’t destroy itself through wants and consumption and waste, we’re going to have to combine our scientific understanding of the world with ancient wisdom. This can only be achieved through a physical engagement with the world and revisiting the crafts that connected them to the earth with respect.
After processing the clay I was left with a sense of agency, knowing that I was not replying on any production line or shop to buy the material from. This has also given me an appreciation for the indigenous people who lived here in the pre-colonial era of my country who probably used this exact clay to make pottery and ceramic art. It has made me curious about what they made so I will be revisiting the history of the Khoisan to have a look at how they worked with (probably) this exact same material.
Interconnecting indigenous Khoisan pottery tradition with european stitch craft in an attempt to express interconnection, repair and resolution:
I am planning to combine some fibre and fabric with the pots by treading them through holes. The idea is to let my pots be inspired by the pots made by indigenous Khoisan tribes who lived in this area before European settlers came here. I would then like to add traditional european stitch-craft to the pots (specifically focussing on ‘mending stitches’ to represent my european ancestry and the idea of expressing my desire to repair, mend and reconcile our interconnection as humans as well as repair our deteriorating interconnection with nature. Resolution of my research can potentially be achieved through these mediums and methods as well as a resolving my own inner conflict regarding the unequal situation in my country. In the process of expressing my confusion and questions, I hope to also visually express reconciliation and a desire to repair. I will elaborate on this exploration in another post in the near future.
Making my own chalk pastels:
Over the last two weeks as I gear up to start a series of figurative drawings, I wanted to see if I would try something I have been aiming to do for a while. I wanted to use the pigments I’ve foraged and processed so far and turn them into drawing sticks (chalk or oil). So I found an old sponge-like container that held the soft pastels I bought a few years ago. I mixed the pigment with some kaolin clay powder and gum arabic and after processing it and poured it into the container lined with max paper.
I was very please with the result and again felt a sense of agency. After it had dried completely on my plaster bat, it was a bit hard and difficult to make marks, so I will be tweaking my recipe and make another batch this week.
Here is a short video showing this fun process:
Creating drawing stick from natural earth pigment. They are labeled according to the places I sourced the soil I use for my pigments. Bergpad (translated: mountain path) – A trail I frequently run that has beautiful red-orange soil. Stilbay – A place dear to my heart where we often go to when on holiday. 14 Provinsie – my back yard.
I am very excited about these pastels, belonging specifically to my location in the world and to the spots in nature that I hold dear and have felt a connection.
During this alchemical process of processing these animate materials I was reminded of the concept of transformation so central to ancient Alchemy. In the process of transforming my pigment from one state into another, altering its function, I am also transformed. My transformation being psychological and physiological nature and vital to my wellbeing. The transformation in my inner landscape, changing from a state of low-level anxiety or depression or just the stress that comes with our human experience into a state of calm and equanimity. A type of sublimation takes place as I direct my energy (even sometimes a negative energy) towards to act of making. Turning my original state into something that is a glimpse of the sublime absorption. This is something I feel the need to share.