I am surrounded by the sea and my recent work takes its inspiration from seashells and their fascinating diversity. These inhabitants of the marine world are both solid and fragile, opaque and translucent, shiny and matte. I have discovered these similar features in porcelain, the material with which I have been working for the past several years. I observe the shells and marvel at the perfection of their structures, the repetitive yet asymmetrical geometry of their patterns, the subtle textures of their smooth or rough surfaces.
Through my work, I have tried to reveal this immense natural variety and wealth, as well as its infinite potential manifestations. The shell can be seen as both home and ruin – it hosts and protects living organisms, but it can also be abandoned, thus transmitting a sense of desolation. In my work I try to incorporate this ambiguity.
Color appears as a hint, while the white or blanched forms allude to the discoloration that the sea inflicts with the passage of time. Time is yet another element that plays an important role in my work – whether it is the time nature takes to create or the time involved in the artistic process. Just as nature builds slowly and successively the pattern on the seashell’s surface, so I bend over my materials with the patience and persistence of the artist as creator. Every indentation, every leaf, and every protrusion is done by hand, one by one. Every sheet of porcelain is flattened and thinned to the breaking point of its resistance, its elasticity, and its transparency.
Through the repetition of these movements, I attempt to insinuate myself into nature, the ‘eternal return’ that dominates the ephemeral character of existence and reveals the resilient perfection of its forms.
The work is a set of three.