This series of porcelain jugs originates from my reflection on common-sense association of one’s identity with their occupation, the role they play in society, as on a stage.
Specific to the social environment, is the tendency to identify and evaluate people according to their function within that environment. Traditionally, pottery is characterised by having a pragmatic purpose and I wished to appropriate the connotations of the jug to question a utilitarian vision of identity and spark reflection on the significance of the ‘useless’, of what is discarded because it is not strictly functional. To do so, I superimposed the image of the jug with that of the human head, in this case my own, turned upside down. The nose became the spout, the braid became the handle of the ‘head-jug’, which was to be a perfectly usable object had I not opened its eyes.
With the eyes wide open, the jug does not serve its original purpose any more, becoming useless in the common sense; yet, as a head it suggests the possibility of reaching a truer dialogue with the external world through observation and openness and, therefore, might increase in value.
Vulnerable
unglazed porcelain, 2016
You will not
Feel the sky's voice
Unless
You open your windows
Half Awake
glazed porcelain, 2016
Chant
glazed porcelain, 2016
Sail On
glazed porcelain, 2016
Silent
glazed porcelain, 2016
Cry
glazed porcelain, 2016
DJCAD Museum Collection
Whispering
glazed porcelain, 2016
Vessel
glazed porcelain, 2016
Private Collection
This series is a result of the research on identity, otherness and performativity that I carried out during my MFA in Art and Humanities and it resonates with the other works on display in the MFA show Shaping a (Non)Sense of Self. In the production process I was carefully assisted by Sean Kingsley and Raquel Garzón Calderón, DJCAD technician and student respectively; their commitment proved that in some educational environments true dialogue exists, and teaching is not just about professors pouring data into students’ head and expecting them to pour it out during examinations, as tamed jugs.