Excavations, bones, relics, earth clay (an exhibition of ceramic sculpture embracing on a theme with reference to archaeological antiquity)

Abstract

The Sculpture pieces represented in this thesis exhibition adopt a theme which essentially deals with references to archaeological remains in a simulated excavation enclosure. My major concentration for the. past two years has been within the area of ceramic sculpture. This current body of work combines real and slipcast clay pieces of skeleton taken from antiquated vertebrate animals, with handbuilt ceramic sculptural forms. I have finished the pieces by combining both the ancient technique of pit firing and the use of watercolor washes and wax, as opposed to normal glaze surface techniques. The principal influences on my work have come from archaeological finds and nature; and so I consider my work to be primitivistic in appearance, thus imparting: a pre-historical reality to it. In conclusion, my work is an extension of myself . . . and in the purest sense, one must make art for one’s self alone.