Hybrids

One of my favourite ways to work is to select favourite composite shapes from plants in order to create my own ceramic “hybrids”. One of the plants that has inspired me the most are water lilies, which re-appear regularly in my work.

Amazonia – the underside of the leaf of the Amazonica water lily are covered in sharp predatory spikes which ensures domination of its watery habitat as it slowly unfurls. Hand built in porcelain, the challenge was to capture in clay, a sense of the gentle movement of these spikes in the water. This piece was part of a set of three that was placed in the ornamental pond at the Scottish Sculpture Park.

Sindora – is inspired by seed pods from the carpological collection in the herbarium. These small pods carpet the forest floor with their sharp spikes. I took the shape and adapted it to hand build this piece of work.