I have been reading through some of my old Archaeological literature from my time at university and have come across some interesting concepts. One area that particularly caught my interest is the burial or deposit of objects within the landscape by the people of the Neolithic. Human bones, animal bones, tools and even pottery were deliberately placed in locations that had significance to those people at that point in prehistory. Many of the locations appear to be determined by landscape features almost an exploration of their relationship to nature and the land. These structured deposits are partly about the objects but also about a place. Most “votive deposits” are in well used locations, tombs or settlements, some however are in wild places.
Part of my work is about an exploration of our relationship to nature and the land. I have therefore made a series of tiny Jars about 15mm high to deposit in the landscape at places that I draw on for my work. I have been out a lot recently collecting new materials and exploring the local landscape as part of my research. I have left a few Votive Jars.
Over the past six weeks I have been making a set of new work primarily for the the summer exhibition at The Garden Gallery in Broughton, Hampshire. Run by Rachel Bebb it is a beautiful English garden filled with sculpture from about sixty artists, both well-established and embarking on their careers. She is also curating an exhibition at The Discovery Center, Winchester in November entitled Figure in the Landscape. A mixed exhibition that explores artist that are inspired by landscape. The exhibition will feature works by Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Chris Drury among others including myself which I am very excited about.
Firing the kiln is a right of passage, weeks of making culminating in a metamorphic process. Once all the work has been finished you are left with blanks onto which I have to choose which glazes to apply. Powdered rocks and minerals; Quartz, Dolomite, Copper, Iron and Feldspars all mixed in exact quantities. Ten hours of fire and heat turning powder into glass. A dull matt gray surface into a singing, shining blue. It is also a time to reflect on the what I have made and what will come next. I stoke the kiln hoping that every little process involved comes together to create something magical within the chamber. Tomorrow I will find out…
My brother, photojournalist Greg Rodland Buick, has completed the final edit of a short documentary about my work. I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out. The discipline of having to portray what my work is about in five or six minutes was a very insightful process. I hope you enjoy it.
Phases (for Adam) by Jacqui Thewless
Inside the earth, the white clay is full.
It is the potter who lifts it
up to the librating wheel,
gathering emptiness -
The interior
of the round jar
turns dark as
a new
moon.
Between the cliffs and the fields lies a stretch of common land, through which runs the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. Much of the land is now owned by the National Trust. This stretch of wilderness that can seem like a wild landscape of rock, sea and heath is in fact managed and maintained. One of ways this is done is by burning back the invasive gorse to allow for greater bio-diversity.
A major part of the ceramic process is fire, so for some time I have thought about placing a vessel in the path of one of these controlled fires. I suppose mainly I was curious about what affect it would have on the surface of the piece. I have to admit it also appealed to my boyish fascination with fire. Big fire, burn pot.
By placing my work here, it made me think about our understanding of landscape and nature. How what we perceive as natural and wild is often actually highly maintained. The human influence on the natural world is often overlooked in our aesthetic appreciation of a beautiful landscape.
My brother Greg Rodland Buick lives and works in Norway as a photojournalist specialising in editorial picture stories and reportage. He was visiting us in Wales last week and we made a documentary film about my work. The editing is not finished yet but this is just a little taster of what we got up to.
It is great having a brother with such photographic skills. Have a look at his website to see some striking photographs from Africa and around the world.
I am very excited that I have been awarded a Research Grant by the Arts Council of Wales. It means that I can go to the top of hills to think about my understanding of landscape and how my work fits into it.
Here is what I proposed:
Continuing with the pure jar form that has become my canvas and my study of the human experience of landscape, I wish to explore more deeply my local landscape and how we experience it, in two ways.
Firstly, using the rich geology of Pembrokeshire as a resource for raw materials to be used in the development of new glazes and surfaces for my work.
Secondly, I wish to carry out a series of land art projects using local clays, and resources as pieces of artwork in their own right. By doing time-dependant site-specific projects within the landscape, which demand regular documentation, I have a reason to go out into the surroundings and look in a meaningful way. This discipline is about adding meaning to the themes that underpin my work and drawing on that experience to inspire a new aesthetic.
In researching these two aspects of the landscape, as a physical resource and as a philosophical inspiration I hope to come to a new and more considered body of work with a clear message about my inspirations.
I will be posting much of what I get up to here so do have a look from time to time. I hope it goes well.
