ONE MONTH IN

One month has passed far to quickly for my liking but I am still loving every minute of being here. This week I decided to take on a few things that I have never done before. I mixed my own porcelain and wedged it into a plastic clay, I let loose in the glaze room and mixed a number of colour tests, made a few small moulds and decided on more techniques to try next week. The thing that struck me was these are all very common techniques to others who work in ceramic and although I have been pursuing ceramics for around 3 years now there are still so many new and exciting things to learn.
I was accepted to the .EKWC as a 'young participant'. These roles are reserved for an artist recently graduated as opposed to the project participants who have generally 5 or more years experience. Amongst the group I am part of it has become crystal clear to me just how much I am at the very beginning. I often feel inadequate while seeing others presentations and hearing all the projects and exhibitions they have been part of. This has brought me to the realisation that a lot of development both artistically and technically is needed on my part and I am feeling motivated by this challenge. Having the ability to see how experienced artists seriously work, run their projects and sustain long artistic careers has been an invaluable learning experience and it is for these (and many more) reasons that being allowed a position at an institute like the .EKWC at this early stage in a career is so significant.



Mixing samples for glaze tests.

Wedging porcelain slip into a plastic clay.



Hollowing out the body of the Horse.



Hollowing out the head of the Bull.









Hollowing out the head throught the nose.

One Horse and a Bull ready for detailing.





THIS WEEK AT THE .EKWC

I am now into my third working week here at the .EKWC and am totally loving it! The other participants are really great and so inspiring to a very new artist like myself. They all work in different ways, have achieved so many amazing things, gained such great knowledge and are really willing to share that experience with me. I feel very lucky to alone have the opportunity to work alongside these artists.
This week was my turn to give a presentation about my past work. Of course it felt a lot shorter with only two years of work to show but it gave the others an idea of where I have come from. Everyone was very interested in the New Zealand Arts and Ceramics scene and some have asked me about the possibility of residencies back home.
The work is coming along and the more I make the more the ideas keep coming! I am almost half way through constructing my large series now but will take a week out next week to go through and sample some glazes and finishes which I can't wait to get started on. I can't believe next week is my fourth week, time is going far too quickly!



Loading Marien Schouten's LARGE piece into the LARGE Kiln.

I was lucky to have Julian helping me in the studio this week. He is hollowing out the Rooster.




Lunch time with the lovely bunch of other participants.

Some serious moulds, just in the hanging out in the hallway.

I have discovered the wonderful library in the attic this week.
Here is the view from the window.



180kg's of clay to be shaped....





Sukjin Choi and I cooked a delicious Kiwi/Korean dinner for everyone.





My presentation to give everyone an idea of my work.



Enjoying Yael Atzmony's delicious homemade Israeli dinner.
We really eat so well!

Working out how to shape a Bull's head.



MAKING A HORSE BUST

This week I have decided to try my hand at sculpting. I always cast or throw and have never been able to get whats in my head to come out the way I want it to so it has been a challenge especially at this scale. I used a front profile and side profile and cut them out of ply to give my big block of clay a starter shape with guidelines. I have made it solid and will have to carve out the inside later to be able to fire it.  I will add more photos once it is complete.

Carving back a basic shape.

120KG 'S of Clay

Adding mane.

Detailing

Head propped up to support weith of the head.

Getting ready to move from one board to another.

THE PROJECT

Previous works

My aim for the 3 month Young Participants Residency at the .EKWC, is to investigate the historic and contemporary use of colour techniques in European ceramics, allowing educated and explorative application of colour to further inform and develop my current body of work.

My current body of work is a series of monochromatic (white) decorative trophy urns, built of thrown forms with modelled and moulded relief details, all presenting prized agricultural animals.  They explore my fascination with the romanticisation of pastoral landscape, its inhabitants and how this informs unrealistic aesthetic expectations of a benign idealised agrarian society.  While quoting formal and socio-cultural traditions of 18^th century European porcelain, leaving the work purely white has operated as a powerful detachment from history, a fresh start for a new era. However, I now feel that the decorative nature of the work demands a shift. An exploration into an element that cannot be ignored when pursuing the path of the ornamental - colour.

Through reflection of this work, prompted by a short visit to Europe, I have become aware that New Zealand is a small geographically isolated country. Therefore the traditions of 18^th century porcelain production and its socio-cultural implications have been experienced at a distance. This has allowed a simulation of constructed conceptions to be born with many elements being morphed in translation. Given the opportunity to physically work from the Netherlands, I want to survey what has been lost and/or gained from this translation, ultimately celebrating what these new understandings could be.

So... I over the past three months I have been travelling around Europe visiting factories, museums and galleries, encountering all the objects I have spent hours pouring over in books. Along the way I have been contemplating the differences between this real life experience and the initial perception the two dimensional image had given me and considering what my new work should be.

The Meissen Factory and Museum

The Wedgewood Factory and Museum

        The Royal Crown Derby Factory                        The Royal Delft Factory                                The Royal KPM Factory

After visiting all these amazing places and seeing so much more than I could have hoped for, the immediate aspect I want to react to is the substantial amount of porcelain encountered. This largely came in the form of significant collections comprised of various objects in multiple forms which were intended for numerous functions, often leaving me feeling overwhelmed.

The second feature that grabbed my attention was the apparent history attached to these objects. This was not just the history of porcelain or their factories, which I have considered in the past, but also the histories of the time they were created in, the royalty who founded these intuitions and the people the works were created for. Histories are something I am feeling particularly fascinated with especially after traveling Europe and realising what little history New Zealand has.

In terms of decoration and colour, this changed in technique and form from the place and time it was made. Apart from being overly decorative and generally bright there was no significant style that could be tied together in order to create a group, yet there was no major difference to set it  all apart. This is something I will need to think about more.

I am not yet sure how everything I have experienced will manifest in my work but I look forward to working through it and seeing what is made.

THE FACILITIES

The huge Kiln is to the very right it doesn't fit in the photo!

Kilns.

A busy wood and metal shop.

Machinery for mixing clay and glaze spray room.

A small selection of tools in the plaster room.

The Glaze Room.

The fully stocked Library.

The Clay Room.

I HAVE ARRIVED

For everyone who has asked for it and anyone who is interested, I am going to endeavour to maintain a blog tracking experiences and developments through my 3 month artist residency at the .EKWC in the Netherlands. Please feel free to leave any comments, suggestions or questions.

I would like to thank the AMP 'do your thing' Scholarship program and Creative NZ for making this opportunity possible.