Unfortunately this is the only image I have of my work in the exhibition PEOPLE IN A ROOM, at Holdrons Arcade, Peckham. The exhibition is running 6th – 17th October and brings together works by artists living and working in Peckham, with events running during the exhibition within the space. The poster for the event and further information can be found here.
These two sculptures are titled Self Portrait 1 and Self Portrait 2 and they are both sculpted from white stoneware clay, and glazed in brilliant white and gloss white, respectively.
The sculpture right at the start, built up out of shapesmy desk set up at homeA photo of the self portrait 2 sculpture in the early stages- you can see how the body has been built up of shapes stuck togetheranother early stage photo- you can see how parts have started to be smoothed outthe back of the sculpture in the early stages- you can see that the back and bum area are still quite flat and need more workthe finished greenware sculpture- you can see details like pubic hair, nipples and stretchmarks have been sculpted inthe sculpture after bisque firing- it is now completely white and ready to be glazeda photo of the bisque sculpture being sprayed with glaze in a booth set upthe glazed sculpture before firingthe finished sculpture after the glaze firing, photographed in the grass at a local parkanother photo of the sculpture in the grass, from a different angle
This was my second self portrait sculpture made over a few months in 2021- this one of my torso and upper thighs standing up, but still missing the arms and legs. I definitely became more confident with sculpting during this process, as you can tell by the detailed pubic hair, stretch marks, and nipples visible in the photos before glazing. The shapes are definitely more refined and less rough than the first self portrait sculpture I made, and I was really happy with the overall shape and sculpt. Unfortunately because I went for a thicker, opaque glaze that is made for dipping a lot of this detail was lost in the glaze firing, as the glaze obscured and covered up a lot of those details. I hoped that spraying the glaze (rather than dipping) would prevent this, but as you can see that didn’t work. The glaze also came out patchy on the shoulder area and inner thigh area, although you can’t really tell from the photos here.
I think if I wanted to attempt something so detailed in the future some solutions could be using a thinner, transparent brush on glaze, or just sculpting it on a much larger scale, which is something I would like to try once I get a bit more confident. Despite all the hiccups I can see how much I’ve improved already since my first self portrait, and I’m excited to keep practicing and trying new things!
KAT OUTTEN 