Eggs and Legs

We've started on our ceramic sculptures in class this week. Our teacher Xanthe Isbister is big into hollowing out mounds of clay slabs because thats a technique she finds useful in her work. She often works with hundreds sometimes up to a thousand pounds worth of clay at a time so it's a necessary to do this. It's a technique thats not often taught and I really like that she's adding it into the basic set of skills we learn.

[work by Xanthe Isbister]

I love how our new Faculty Head, Paul Hess, has started bringing in emerging artists often freshly out of grad school to start teaching classes. I think it's great to have a variety of teachers in different stages of their careers to talk to students.

I thought I'd show you what I've been working on for this project. Since I'm in the beginner class we are using 25 pounds of clay and the advanced students are using 50 pounds of clay. I'm making a functional piece - it is a repetitive surreal (esque) sculpture made of women's legs and in place of their stomachs will sit hard boiled (or soft boiled - or both - haven't decided) eggs. I'm thinking of women's bodies, women's health, reproduction, sex, food, how women have been depicted historically vs. now, and issues involving the consumption of animals/ their eggs. Not to say I'm a vegan - yet. It's a broad spectrum. I can't wait to eat my eggs out of this bad boy - right now its got seven egg holders...