Ceramics

Andrew Hall "The Serpent"

11 inches, Stoneware, 2021

My idea originated as a snake skin and head placed on top of a bottle. The plan quickly changed when I could tell that the snake thing wasn’t going to work so it slowly developed into this sea monster thing. I’ve always like snakes but since that didn’t work out I went to another interest of mine which is mythical creatures and I thought a scary sea serpent would be cool. This idea did not come from any other artwork i’ve seen it was my own original idea that I came up with as far as I know. The process was not easy at all and it took a while for parts such as the eye lids and lips I pressed one side of the clay into the main head to make it seem as if its skin was receding into the face. I was planning on rounding out the head then I realized its a sea monster and he is going to be beat up and deformed anyway so I just left it the way it was. The only tool I really used was the needle in order to cut out shapes for the spines and the eyes. My main technique was a lot of coil construction that ended up being used for the face. This piece has no deep symbolism in it other than it being a monster so all I really want the audience to know is that it is meant to be a monster and not something else. I do want them to think from some sort of standpoint that its creepy in some way. The teeth was the hardest part because if you were to rough with the clay they would fall off and they are a pain to put back in place. If I were to change something it would be the eyes, I think I rushed on them and I could have done so much better. I believe this is part realistic and Abstract but I don’t really know. The thing that makes it unique to me is that it relates to my own interest and I wouldn’t see somebody else doing anything similar. I love the mouth most of all because I think that it came out really well and it looks somewhat terrifying or scary.