Thesis Countdown 3...
Exactly three weeks left until the first half of my thesis exhibition! My thesis will be in two parts.
First I'm having an interactive installation which is to be a private (ticketed) dinner event at the Museum of the North, catered by LaVelle's (one of our fine dining establishments here in Fairbanks). The dinner will be served using my serving ware--plates, bowls, cups, anything that the attendees are eating off of, being served from, will be all my work. The decoration ornamenting the pieces is inspired and derived from the line drawings on ivory carvings, particularly story knives, which were used by little girls to share stories and ideas--which we still do today; over coffee, dinner, tea, etc. I see ceramics as a vessel in the literal sense, as well as a conceptual vessel for the ideas relating to anthropology and ethnography.
The second part of the project is a gallery exhibition of the work that is displayed in a way that references the dinner and use of the ceramics, as well as elevating the pieces to be sort of museum like objects that reference a particular event/time in history--in this case, my thesis.
With the deadline quickly approaching, I'm working like a mad woman in the studio trying to get the rest of the work made and fired. The majority of the work is complete, however, there's always a few things that seem to slip through the cracks until the last minute!
The process of plates requires a lot of hurry up and wait for them to dry.
It's more exciting than watching paint dry because of all the cool shadows.
Plaid plates. These have the line work already carved and a coat of slip. Waiting for it to dry and then I'll scrape away the excess slip, leaving it only in the carved areas.
The process of slip inlay, make the mark, paint over with slip, scrape it away, and voila!
I couldn't help but feel like I was making herds of zebra bowls.
Coffee drips upside down, temporary zebras.