Artist Inspired Project
I chose to do this artist inspired project based on Stephanie Flowers' work. She works on ceramics, making sculptures and installation work in Montreal currently. In 2013 she received her BFA in sculpture and installation at OCAD University. The goal of her work is to explore the scientific body and it's surreal aspects, turning it into art. She takes the biological and medical imaging and turns it into art, claiming to give a sense of place by comparing the human body to physical space.
Based off of the artist's work I noticed the shaping and coloring she typically sticks with. The perfectly smooth cubic or rectangle shape with pieces carved out and a pink glaze on top. I decided to take 2 projects into account, showcasing both aspects of her work. The first, using the common shape and the second using a color she uses (also with pieces carved out). I created the cube by shaping a ball of clay into a cube shape. I continuously dropped the clay on the table until the sides started to flatten out. Once I had the shape I wanted I smoothed out the edges, corners and sides and carved out 2 corners to show the dip commonly seen in Flower's work. Following this, I cut the cube down the middle and carved out some clay on the inside to ensure it didn't explode in the kiln. Next I smoothed everything out and did my best to make sure the line where I had cut it wasn't visible. To set my art apart from hers I chose to glaze the cube a dark blue color. For the kayak, I shaped some clay into a kayak shape, with pointed ends and I carved out 2 seats. I glazed this a light pink to connect it to Flower's work in 2 ways. This is different however because kayaks don't relate to the human body. This is her whole message through her art, however I was inspired by the way her art looks as well as the goal. If I could change one thing about my cube it would be to make it more even and geometrical. Her subes are essentially perfect so I wish I could've captured that aspect in my own work. I also dropped my kayak while attempting to take a picture of it. If I could change something about the kayak it would be to not have dropped and broken it and also to have smoothed it out more.