Vici Blackburn
A TRIPTYCH OF BOWLS
Porcelain and papier-måché
WILL THE BOAT SAIL? |
WRECKING STORM |
STORMY SKIES |
Pavel Zoubok states: as “culture becomes increasingly hands-off, we as humans have a visceral, primal need for tactility and connection. Artists return to this world where they tear, rip, paste, work with their hands.” This level of engagement, whether its clay, collage or assemblage is central to Vici’s practice. The very physicality of this process is itself a metaphor for the effects of the weather on our environment, our plans, us. It is this weather that drives her continuing body of work “Will There be Sandwiches in Marksies”. We are wrapped in Manannans misty cloak, ribbons of it hanging from Slieu Whellian, we are battered by the inky darkness of the Irish Sea, and we bask in the gorse golden sun. The weather has seeped into our very bones, it is a boundary both wild and wonderful. Will the boat sail? Will the planes land? Will the post arrive, indeed will there be sandwiches in Marksies? Vici’s bowls are influenced by the weatherworn surfaces of the Manx coast and landscape, then wrapped with papier-mâché skins. The skins are inspired by her childhood memory of lovingly unwrapping their jewel like Xmas decorations, protected by ageing newspaper folds. Porcelain is press molded into her own casts and texture is created from many sources including her linocut designs. These repeatedly worked surfaces of clay are under constant revision, referencing the endless remaking Vici Blackburn of the shoreline, then sanded, oxides applied, and hand painted with underglaze, glazes and gold luster.
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