|
My experience of working in clay dates from recent years, for example in my ‘Travelling Companions’ collection. This collection consists of small jugs, flasks, perfume bottles and other, more organic, forms of vessel, to be worn as body ornaments. Out of these vessels, from their content, from their meaning, clay emerged as a logical material. I have mainly used clay in the form of a liquid suspension, which I pour into moulds to cast the forms. Repeated use of the same mould has enabled me to make an installation of innumerable, identical tiny vessels. Alternatively, I have used a casting procedure to make the basic form and then added other materials to create differences between the individual castings. Besides wearable ornaments, I have made a multiple wall object in clay, under the title ‘Reservoirs’ (see slide 8). The forms are more or less flat, but they give the illusion of containing something. A horse hair emerges from a tiny protrusion on the surface, suggesting a stream of fluid. The whole collection is exhibited by Galerie RA. A ‘Reservoirs’ wall object has been purchased for the Kunstblik arts programme (AVRO broadcasting organization), and the multiple is permanently exhibited by Galerie Binnen. My working method often involves following a particular procedure. Research, and the process of collecting materials, forms and atmospheres, yields the initial themes and content. From there on the research becomes more focused and precise. My quest is for the nature and meaning of both form and material, the truest expression of material, a tension between surface and material, and the juxtaposition of different materials. The end-product of this process is a collection of work. An example of a project which came about in this way is the ‘Bei mir bist du schön’ project. It consists of a number of tables which I designed and made myself. The ornaments in this project were ‘packaged’ in the tables. Each object had an individual niche in a drawer or partition, made specially for the ornament concerned. These were meant to be discovered by the viewer. The effect was an interaction with the public, an intimate and easy-going atmosphere created by the manner of presentation. Visitors were free to find and try out the ornaments, and to view themselves wearing them in a mirror which lay on the table. What mattered to me was that the visitors would not only experience a visual stimulus but would explore the ornaments by touch. The ‘Bei mir bist du schön’ project was developed on the invitation of the RAM Gallery, Oslo, and was first exhibited there. It has subsequently been shown the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague and elsewhere. The facilities offered by the EKWC would allow me to extend, to widen and deepen, my experience. I like the idea of being free to concentrate on my work, and to experiment in a stimulating environment. As a development of my working procedure, I would like to conduct many experiments in different materials, with various kinds of clay and porcelain, casting and other techniques, form and dimension, texture, surface and treatments, colours and glazes. I expect these experiments to yield concrete alternatives that will be applicable to my jewellery and/or my larger plastic work. The works shown in slides 1 to 6 are natural observations which are taken to varying degrees of abstraction. I hope to bring these impressions of nature, often my source of inspiration, with me to the EKWC. |