BA (Hons) Ceramics 2006 |
 |
||
NATALIE MCKENDRICK
|
The term journey refers to the act of moving from one place to another. I am intrigued by the notion of where we have come from and where we are going. In reference to the metaphorical idea of “life is a journey” I wish to explore the idea of perceiving the “body as a vehicle”. The body as a vehicle of emotional expression is a crucial part of my work. Through the experience of making impressions in the clay, I wish to reveal to myself and the viewer an inner emotional state, for example, the sudden and heavy impact from falling to your knees or the soft, warm comfort of nestling into a space. The choice to immerse my feet and body in the clay is significant; it is a symbolic act of a return to earth, a place to encounter the raw and primal within; the inner landscape becoming transparent through the physical interaction with the clay. Concerning the process, I take blocks of clay and through the motion of my body upon the material, let the clay record every trace of movement, every nuance of touch, capturing a moment in time and space. The forms made are not predetermined, but are formed by the intuitive actions of my feet and body in the clay, my physical interaction with the clay releasing and giving form to some buried inchoate emotion. It is a heightened sensory event in which I explore the sensual aspects of consciousness. And through the marks and traces of movement and touch in the clay reveal an experience of lived time in this world. |
|
 |
|
 |