Remains (2021)

Various dimensions

Slip cast porcelain paper clay, experimental glazes, crystals

 

Remains is a slip cast porcelain series of sculptures, presented as an installation. This body of work investigates the ephemeral nature of life, exploring themes of death, decay and regeneration through nature-based metaphors. Downton examines lifecycles in nature, and how these ideas intersect with historical and contemporary notions of the ‘ruin’. Downton investigates notions of the ruin, as deteriorating relics of the past that symbolise ephemerality. Human-made, yet enveloped by overgrown vegetation and nature, ruins continuously deteriorate whilst regenerating new life. Ruins can be viewed as hybrids; a fusion between nature and society, regeneration and decay, life and death, transience and permanence. They exist in liminal states of ‘in-between’, relating to Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection through these ambiguous states. In this sense, ruins can be seen as hybrids, representing a fusion of dualities such as decay and regeneration, society and nature, permanence and ephemerality.

Downton explores these concepts through sculptural forms, blending organic objects with human interventions. The whiteness and ghostly nature of porcelain, akin to the pale skeletons of bleached coral, suggests an indeterminate state; something neither fully alive nor dead. She uses animal and vegetal forms, as well as the ghostly nature of porcelain, to explore these ambiguous states and notions of change. Through use of slip cast hybrid forms, Downton explores the interconnected cyclicality of our ecosystem and its relationship with humankind. In her process of making, the act of replicating organic objects via slip casting suggests human intervention. Visible seam lines and hollow forms speak of the objects’ formation and reveal human presence.

Crystal growths erode the fired porcelain, rendering the permanent impermanent, speaking to environmental collapse and irrevocable changes caused by humanity. Working in a cyclical process, Downton repurposes previously moulded branches through kiln firings, where they are burnt out and the ash is combined into experimental glazes.

Her mode of installation – round platforms of charred wood surfaces – allude to cyclicality, death and regeneration. Reminiscent of petri dishes, they suspend the work between specimens and relics, inviting audiences into new perspectives. 

Ruins historically corresponded to a consciousness of past and future times; relics that brought about an awareness of the temporality of life, and symbols of modernity’s uncertainty. As remnants of the past, skeletal forms evoke notions of decay and impermanence; much like memento mori, they act as a reminder of our own mortality and the transience of life. Downton explores these ideas with an awareness of current times of immense global change, where reevaluating our relationship with nature becomes critical in achieving sustainability for future generations.

 

Words by Lauren Downton, 2021.