From the exhibition “An underlying perplexity”



‏I started making this work as a metaphor of my connections to the outside world. I have chosen to work with a rather cliché object and transform it to another level of objecthood. First noticeable fact about the piece is the material choice, from far away, it looks like a rusty metal chain, it’s not until you move closer that you realize it’s all handmade clay pieces, unfired, which make them super fragile. Each link is less than 2 inches and carefully crafted. By choosing unfired raw clay, I have dematerialized and defamiliarized the chain as an object. This process takes away the only function it has, which is to restrict, to imprison.

An Oblivious Reminiscence, Handmade clay chain, unfired, 2022-2023, Photos: Carey Shaw