little words, big worlds

The goal of this piece was to invoke Russian Gzhel-like patterns on porcelain vertebrae (porcelain was the best option in lieu of white earthenware) with electric blue underglaze. To fulfill the 'process' requirement of this process sculpture assignment, I used sodium silicate to induce surface cracking while they were still leather-hard.

First three vertebrae constructed:

The shapes are of course not exactly anatomically correct, mostly due to time constraints but also due to lower initial expectations for the project. If I were able to change anything about this project, it would be the accuracy of these forms. But then again, abstracted roughness seems to be a running theme with all of my school work.

Crack-inducing sodium silicate added alongside electric blue underglaze Gzhel-like patterns:

The underglaze patterns were similarly roughly applied, forming a kind of abstracted impression of Gzhel without being nearly as detailed or meticulous. It's this abstraction of heritage that I've focused on for my capstone, which you'll see more of in the coming week or so.

Glaze fired and set up in preparation for weaving in the yarn:

Funny enough this was my first time doing pretty much anything with yarn, first time braiding anything since maybe when I was a kid lol. Very pleasantly surprised that it worked out as well as it did!