The wild clay and found materials are recycled to create the birds, storing the connections and memories made to places and people. I plan to map when a bird has found a home “A Safe Home -Belonging”
"No one leaves home until home is a sweaty voice in your ear saying
– leave, run away from me now"
- Warsan Shire
A Sense of Place - Clay is collected during my travels, recycled and hand coiled to form my vessels. The slow process continues with burnishing and then firing low with glazes made from ash taken from my found wood and seaweed, oxides are added for colour. The finished vessel stores the connections made to places, for some it is impossible to return but memories are always there to remind us of our attachments to a place.
"I don’t know what I’ve become
but I know that anywhere is safer than here"
- Warsan Shire
While travelling around Ireland during the summer of 2020 I came across some beautiful driftwood, the wood forms the handles that are joined to my ceramic spoons “Cohesion in the Making”. 2021 continues to restrict our movements, lucky for me the Phoenix Park is on my doorstep, hence during my walks, I am collecting fallen branches for my handles “Connections in the Making”, the colours in the park are inspiring a new range of colours for my glazes. I continue to make my “Displaced” small spoons, occasionally changing the colours of the glazes.
Large spoons are just under a metre in length
Small spoons approximately 30 cm in length
Displaced spoon collection - each spoon is glazed in a selection of dry, crawl and volcanic glazes. The spoons are delicate and when glazed they have a rusty appearance and a textured surface as if each piece has been on a difficult journey.
"no one leaves home
unless home is the mouth of a shark"
- Warsan Shire
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Displaced shoe collection - the upper part of the shoe is made from a dark clay and also clay taken from a Turkish beach where worn shoes were found scattered along the beach. The fragile soles are made of Pate de Verre, a glass powdered paste forming the delicate sole.
"you have to understand,
that no one puts their children in a boat
unless the water is safer than the land"
- Warsan Shire
Displaced wreath collection - so many displaced people have lost their homes and are homeless, many of us are lucky to have a home and a door to place our ceremonial wreaths. My precious porcelain wreaths have a black bird caught up in the wreath but also a bird that has gained freedom and heading west to a better place.
"you only leave home
when home won't let you stay."
- Warsan Shire
