seine swans (ivory)

These works start by hand shaping a base organic shape, allowing the edges to constrict and texturize. Some clay canvases are flat, some have raised 'frames' within their picture planes. The rougher, irregular edges remind me of hand-deckled paper. 

Thematically, I'm mostly working within a series I think of as 'Odes'  - matilijia poppies, swans, imagined landscapes, meandering memories. I collect vintage postcards, and a few in particular I've found in the recent year have been particularly influential.

The shaped works are air-dried, kiln fired to a bisque, glazed (painted), and kiln fired again to activate the glaze color. At this point some works are re-glazed to layer additional color in one more kiln firing. Finally, the work gets its last visit to the kiln for a finishing gold and/or an opalescent luster glaze fire. 

These works are ready to hang; their incorporated foundations sit flush against the wall allowing the picture plane to float offset from the wall.

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9"x5"x2"

2024 signed kim west