Context Brief

March 13, 2013

Context Brief

For most of semester 2, I was working on my "context brief". Basically an introduction into finding out what area of ceramics we see ourselves in. Sculptural, vessel making, designer, caster, thrower etc. We were given 3 lists of words. One list of descriptor words for example curious, contrast, tension, dizzy etc. And a list of Context words such as Ancient, forest, sea, black and white,land etc. And thirdly a list of words relating to the type of ceramics eg vessel based, repetition, decorative, sculptural, issue based etc. You following? So we pick one word from each group and research the heck out of it, create links, develop ideas, show development in our sketch books and then produce a wonderful, take your breath away piece of art....or something like that.

SO I chose after much indecisiveness. Curious, Black and White and Decorative.

I looked at loads of things everything to do with black and white from photos to films to Dalmations and Zebras. Looked at what curiosity means to me in terms of being curious as in intrigued and interested and prying to something being curious as in strange and odd.

Instantly whilst I was researching, what was really standing out for me was the black and white photography and films, and the nostalgia that goes with them. When I look at a black and white image I'm always in awe of the history behind and the antiquity it holds. This is what I wanted to focus on. How could I link this with curiosity?

I came across a word that was the light bulb moment in this project, a word used I believe in films such a wizard of Oz and Sin City etc. Anachronism.

An anachronism, from the Greek ανά (ana: up, against, back, re-) and χρόνος (chronos: time), is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of person(s), events, objects, or customs from different periods of time. Often the item misplaced in time is an object, but it may be a verbal expression, a technology, a philosophical idea, a musical style, a material, a custom, or anything else associated with a particular period in time so that it is incorrect to place it outside its proper temporal domain.

This gave me the starting point I needed to start developing solid ideas. I decided to take old family photos and juxtaposition them with new photos or modern day quotes. I'm getting tired of typing so I'll just let the pictures say the rest.

Collage is medium I've been interested in since I was introduced to it in my portfolio course in Staofan Naofa. I love working with the different types of papers and textures and simply gluing and cutting. It reminds me of when I was a teenager when I used make scrap books.


My great great grandmother. Juxtapositioning of old (the photo) and new (the modern phrase) to create something odd or curious.......

Pre bisque firing.

Fragment of the first broken slip painting.

I tried painting with slip to see how it would turn out. I love painting and I love the idea of being able to marry it with ceramics.I didn't want to rely entirely on decals and thought a painted image might work better, however the first one I made cracked and the process was time extensive.

Mono Print on clay. Black body stain on white slip.My father and late grandfather.

Slip trailing. Casting slip with black body stain added.

Trying to emulate the pattern of a doily by painting and slip trailing.

Test tiles.

First attempt at "collaging with clay" This is something I want to explore further this semester as I've researched some artists who have done similar things with slip and I really want to explore the possibilities.

Decal image on slip dipped doily. I used a doily for my form because it fitted in with the antiquity theme running though my work.

Born to be wild.


Unfortunately the decals blistered because I put them straight into the kiln after transferring them. You're supposed to let them for at least 18 hours.