Light Clay Figures

I always start building my figures by drawing a profile on paper and then building up the coils on it.

With a doughnut-shaped piece it is important to how the inner and outer circle connect.

Once the first half is finished and it has firmed up I turn it upside down to coil the second half. This is biggest clays sculpture I have built to date. In increase inner stability and avoid its own weight collapsing on itself I have added three internal supports.

Because of the necessary drying times during construction I tend to have more than one piece on the go at a time.

Here is a view of the inside of a piece with all the coils still visable. I will smooth these out strengthen the bonds between the coils.

First attempt to screen print onto my 3-D shaped figures is better than I had expected. Cannot wait to have this bisque fired to start the hand decorating process. But ceramics is not a fast process as it involves long drying times in between of the making stages. 

This is another new piece which is a companion piece to the five legged one. They belong into a series I call "His & Her's". I'm trying out new patterns on this piece and the lighter strips are bits of masking tape which will mask up areas in the screen patterned parts that I can work into.

I have finished painting the patterns on my figure. It combines different patterns with text written in Bindary Code: der Mensch an Unmensch and in Braille: humanitity is diversity. My interest lies in humanity and communcation and how different perspectives inform value systems.

This is my finished piece calles "der Mensch an Unmensch". Within its dense surface pattern I have incorporated text written in Binary code.

Finished this large piece - the biggest I've done so far and reaching a limit on size and weight for me to be able to handle it while making and decorating - it is covered in QR codes, Binary codes and Morse codes which are all readable and together form a narrative about the misuse of political power. On initial viewing all my work may just look decorative but there are many different layers of meaning contained within them - mainly through use of patterns and surface decorations.