Clay has the potential to be formed, reformed and reused as long as it hasn’t been fired and can therefore provide a means of creatively exploring themes and personal expression in a sustainable way.
Reclaiming materials is important in my work, it’s physical and the hands and body get into it and my mind quietens as I notice the changes and get stuck into the repetitive motions of wedging. Apart from it being an embodied way of being in touch with my materials, the drive to make my practice more sustainable is very important to me. By reclaiming we reduce the footprint of extraction on the environment and people.
I have been collecting everyone’s clay scraps from the shared studio I work out of, making a new body out of each load of scraps.
Leftover scraps from here and then dried-up casting slip from those bowls two years ago.
Bits saved from the bin,
this precious muck, has been lying in wait in a selvaged bucket from the local grocer.
I scoop it out onto the batts, plaster wicking away the liquid overnight.
Press it to test
- is it ready? My finger just clean, the clay still soft, takes its touch.
Peel it off the plaster,
roll up and cut and then slap back together and again, and again.
Then start to knead, and cut, count and lose count
start again, until it becomes a homogeneous new body full of potential.