BodyLandscape CEAD ESU Prize

The creative process of working with clay is a very intuitive one. It requires one to be aware and to recognise forms as they reveal themselves and emerge from the process of physical manipulation of the clay rather than working towards a pre-determined outcome. The entities are already there, enchanted in the clay, and the artist’s role is to let them out. Clay is a material of the earth so, forms, creatures, mythical gods and heroes hatch from the amorphic earthy matter. They emerge as part human - part features of the landscape.
• I was inspired by Irish mythology and the story of Macha, who turned fairies (or the Daoine Sidhe) and other mystical beings into stone. This included her son, the giant Mac Lir, by capturing his emotions, which transformed him into a rock;
• Similar stories are present in Polynesian mythology. Te Fitti - without her heart is an evil, destructive monster of lava, but with her heart is the life-giving Mother Earth;
• Furthermore, some of the megalithic stone temples of Malta resemble the body of the triple goddess: her head, heart and womb; while at the Hypogeum - the underground cemetery - we can find the sleeping goddess figurines;
• The recent Norwegian movie “Troll” also refers to a similar idea: monsters enchanted in stone, asleep... who can, however, become very destructive if awoken;
• We also have, of course, Newgrange as the place of death and rebirth within the womb of Mother Earth;
• and the Easter Islands heads representing the spirits of ancestors.
There is always something monumental and holy in the scale and meaning of those myths and artefacts. These are creation myths and the myths of life, death and rebirth.
While with death comes the rebirth of the spirit, the physicality disintegrates, flesh decays, and matter returns to nature. At the start of my process, I did not intend to see those body parts as dead, rotting pieces, yet the applied texture may signify that for the viewer. I suspect that sub-consciously the tragic events in Ukraine, Syria and Turkey with people trapped under rubble, murdered, or bombed have probably made an imprint on my psyche and wanted to appear.
My art pieces represent bodily landscapes. They are conceived as a sensual resemblance of the body, but when submerged in sand, moss or dirt - they become one with the landscape. Camouflaged, asleep or dead. The various textures and colours are inspired by nature and represent the growth and union with the surroundings. They are inspired by the thick, layered technique by the artist Anselm Kiefer in his 3-dimensional, textured paintings.
The relationship between the pieces is also important, as the spaces between them suggest fragmentation or disassembly of the “unified whole" and creates tension.