Just This Side Of Dust – Process detail

Just This Side of Dust is based on the form of the compact fluorescent light bulb. The pieces were produced during a residency at the International Ceramic Research Center in Denmark. The pieces are made of a substance that is a mixture of porcelain and plaster – two ingredients that are typically incompatible in the practice of ceramics. The pieces range from a hard, heavy ceramic substance to a chalk-like material that is just this side of dust. Mixing the two ingredients together allows one to work using wet clay moulds, making it possible to alter the mould after each cast. The result is a group of unique, related multiples from a single mould. Each group from a single mould documents a transformative process, much like a Claymation film; in ceramic terms, an oxymoron. There are five series in this piece beginning at the centre of the spiral and working outward and up in the order they were created.