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An artist, on the other hand, works with clay is confronted with a
malleable mass, an indefinite organic material which he has to
give a shape and when he wants to fire the moulded object, he
has to respect the laws and characteristic demands of the
material and of firing. To dense a mass or form around a hollow
will necessarily cause problems.
And what must the artist do with this hollow, this hidden
inner space which exists and which must be made visible and
perceptible? It's like an interior architecture with its
openings, Its solid surfaces, and its hollows.
when thinking about the inner space, I gradually came to
consider it as a haven, a retreat, a shelter, a space where
thought could take refuge, where the eye could rest and the mind
could meditate. I have always been fascinated by the
architecture of Ancient Egypt which is very close to clay and
enchants us with its mystery and the silence of its forms.
In 1987, I built my first Raku-kiln and by this novel way of
firing, I was led to a new approach to clay and it was only
after infuming it in sawdust that I came to see kind of cult
objects in these simple blackened triangular forms. I was
fascinated both by the simple forms of these Raku fired objects
and by their anthracite black and mysterious patina.
These forms reminded me of primitive utensils and tools and it
started molding pointed objects, which when horizontally
disposed suggest small boats. Parallel to these more direct
objects, I started creating kinds of steles similar to seated
figures, to effigies. These more elaborate works are first
stretched. Their surfaces are scratched and the whole objects
are coated with engobes and dyes oxides.
But the gradually more and more
representative and narrative character of the objects brought me
back again to a severer architectonic work, to prismatic blocks,
to very geometrical openings which once more offered a glimpse
of their interior space.
Horizontally disposed objects are
associated with these vertical steles. As I had already tried
before in my series of works of the effigy, I have endeavored to
show how my work is done.
Thus, the cutting, the quickness or slowness of
the cutting has a direct influence on the surface" the skin"
which gradually wins a greater prominence. It's obvious that
clay, its organic composition and its degree of malleability
play an essential part in the final result.
Both the mural objects, which are conceived as light
channels respectively as light shafts and the double bodied
steles posses an interior space and an exterior cover.
The inner and outer elements join in a direct dialogue,
loop hole like apertures being in a dialogue with full wall
surfaces, the outer surface "skin" is determined by the indirect
intervention which reveals little about the artist's hand, yet
the object's form is created by the artist pressing the clay
into the cast which provides the surface structure.
Thus, the inside of the objects appears in a deep blue
and a brick-red, which reveals the pressing, shaping hands of
the artist. The malleable coarse white clay allows the artist to
rouse with these simple architectural geometrical forms
associations with these simple architectural geometrical forms
associations with primary architectural and structural elements
of primitive creation.
With my work, I would like to oppose, peace, clam
and simplicity to our noisy, hectic and highly complex world. I
try to create objects which could be an incentive to a gentle
meditation. |
