Lauren Winter

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‘What we perceive are no more than isolated lights in the abyss of ignorance, in the shadow-filled edifice of the world’[1] In a world of disorder, I attempt to relinquish control by trying to unravel the intricacy of the things that surround me. I establish a dialogue through a series of actions, throwing, folding, pressing, tearing, breaking, squashing, kneading. Each repetitive action leads to a more inherent understanding of materials and their capabilities, it is through this tactile exploration that I intend to synthesise the abstract and the tangible.

 

Clay, of earth, offers a sense of grounding in an age of slick screens, it allows for a step back from the instantaneous nature of the smooth, and realigns us with a physical, unfiltered environment. Each action and step in the process imbues the material with intention, revealing the cracks, textures and imperfections of this temporal medium and its power to retain a history through this life cycle.

 

Trying to materialize a yearning and awe for feelings and places that only exist within memories, I begin to consider beauty as a verb, reminiscent. Of course, beauty is subjective; I am not necessarily trying to encapsulate the smooth, the objective aesthetics of beauty; but instead, it is a way to try and communicate this intangible feeling, into something palpable; intersecting memory and imagination, past and present.

 

[1] W.G Sebald 1995 The Rings of Saturn