The land grabbing series is underway (there's got to be a better name). In the meantime, all of my Foreclosure quilts are now shipped off to new homes or are in upcoming shows. I started my clay class last week and have learned a tremendous amount already. Last night we experimented with slab construction. I handed over my first pieces for firing so we'll see if they turn out. In the meantime, there is a lot of experimenting going on in my studio as well. Here's a peek.
Above are pieces my daughter and I made on our first day in the 'clay' studio. Of course, there will be textiles as part of this series as well.
Ceramics will be a quick learning curve for me as I tend to throw myself into my work 200% once I have an idea. I already have a lot of clay tools in my studio including some of my mom's from thirty plus years ago.
Both of my parents were artists and made pottery. Here's one of my favorite pictures of my dad hard at work. I love the pipe hanging out of his mouth while he works.
In between clay building, I'm developing the series and honing down on the subject matter with lots of sketches, studies and writing.
I love this moment in the process, when the idea is there but it needs refining and direction. It gives me the chance to study the idea in different scales from the tiny ...
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| Oil Palm Seed. Image by Rhett A. Butler. |
To the global scale ...
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| Oil Palm clear cutting in the Ketipang district of Indonesia's West Kalimantan province, July 5, 2010. Image courtesy of REUTERS/Craig Palinggi |
It will all come together in the end as an intimate yet powerful statement about industrial agriculture and land grabbing. I hope to share some writing about the work with you next week but in the meantime, there are lots of other ceramicists to share with you so stay tuned.
7 comments:
I look forward to seeing what comes of your land grabbing series (I rather like the name - strong - has the whiff of grubby about it...) - here in oz this week was the announcement that china is trying to snaffle HUGE tracts of land in the Northern Territory to create massive industrial scaled agricultural operations..... its an appalling prospect...
its becoming increasingly clear that our nation is being sold off - piece by piece to the highest bidder....
love to see how you are diving into clay full on. i'm looking forward to watching this progress.
So great to see your process. It is so depressing how governments are selling off land to the highest bidder, a great subject for your work.
oh, awesome! i have long had a love affair with clay but haven't worked with it since high school. i didn't realize the land grabbing series will have a clay component and a fiber component. wonderful!
Thanks for the support, everyone! I'm having fun learning a new medium! @ronnie, Australia is struggling. I wonder what China will grow/raise there. It seems there is a lot of cattle ranching throughout. @Katrina, imagine, placemats, napkins, tablecloths. The ideas are endless!
You have really jumped in...I know you will do something unique and meaningful. And I love that you've gotten your daughter involved too. I wish i had some photos of my mother in her studio. I'll have to check with the sibs and see if there are any around.
good to look over here, again. i like the phrase land grabbing because it's inelegance enhances it's utter wrongness.
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