Some recent work including pieces mentioned in the previous post. The piece I am currently working on feels very personal to me. It’s the kind of piece which comes from your subconscious and takes time to unpick. It is obviously about old and new meeting, it is jarring and uncomfortable. I have always felt that my work is about celebrating imperfections (Wabi Sabi) but I think it is becoming more than that. Existentialism, immortality, permanence and impermanence are just some of the words that spring to mind. Having re-read my essay I have been reminded of what a good metaphor ceramics is for life, a permanent material which is inherently fragile. Pottery can be an emblem of fixity, I guess the fragments are a symbol of the past which is in a sense fixed. These pieces are also a reminder of my past and previous generations in my family, the part they play in shaping me (sometimes whether I like it or not!). The middle ‘new’ piece is organic and growing/still changing, broken in places but mended and stronger. Again I am reminded of this quote from Ruskin:

“imperfection is in some sort essential to all we know of life. It is the sign of life in a mortal body, that is to say, of a state of progress and change.” Ruskin (1997) p.92

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/may/28/ai-weiwei-artist-hari-kunzru This article on Ai Weiwei has helped to clarify some of the thoughts I have been having about my own work.