I have started a new maquette for ‘Oracle’. This is the stage where I start to confront the technical problems of material, making and installation.
‘Forgetting’ the former maquettes I started with a thumbnail sketch of a possible installation that incorporated some of the former arrangements…
..this moved on to a pen and ink rendering which came closer to a 3-dimensional representation of the eventual ceramic piece.
The pieces are maleable and fragile while the clay is wet. When fired they will be fixed in their final form. One of the challenges is maintaining the fluid, organic nature of the forms as they dry and harden; how to relate one piece to the others while the clay is wet and translating this to the fired forms.
The forms leave their traces as I move them creating a drawn presence, a graphic imprint of their passing.
How they relate to words spoken is the challenge. And I must also make a support frame.
The maquette is approximately 1:3 with the final piece standing around 2.4 metres not including support framework.