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Eddie Baum
Understanding the other - An exploration of biomorphic form
This project uses ceramic sculpture as a vessel to capture and explore the organic and imperfect qualities of the natural world, asking the viewer to question the uncanny. What is it? why does it feel so familiar but at the same time so distant? I want to materialise biomorphic resemblance without creating a perfect reflection of reality.
This first sculpture interrogates the natural process of growth and expansion. The fleshy tone and shimmering surface produce an abstracted amalgam of shape that intends to capture a state of life and movement frozen in time.
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Here you can see three smaller sculptures that were designed with the same themes of growth and expansion in mind. However, I have started to experiment with more complex glaze techniques. I have used three separate raku glazes which perfectly compliment the organic style as the cracks and imperfections of the process form designs that look natural rather than man-made.
Pictured above you can see an organic photoshoot using found objects. By taking a closer look at the natural world around me, I was able to explore more complex textures, colours and forms that I could incorporate into my designs.
On the right you can see how I have started to experiment with layered, more intricate structures. Something I noticed in the prior photoshoot was the sense of repetition and organised chaos. I noticed the way detailed individual components would come together to create a unified mass.
Whilst I couldn't photograph them, I was also interested in microbes and biological forms. I wanted to create sculptures that could blur the lines between the micro and the macro
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Presented here is a larger set of two raku sculptures. These aimed to explore expanding scale, earthy tones, unglazed components, interplay between separate entities and repeated forms. The contrast between the dull, muddy greys and the dazzling metallic copper placed the sculpture in a context of balanced beauty and disgust.
Here are close up photos of two sculptures I produced over the course of two days (pre firing). The focus of these photos is to present the varied textures and techniques I have used across the two sculptures. You can see how the previous sculptures have informed my recent decisions. I have chosen to keep the scale of these forms subdued - partly due to time constraints and partly to emphasis the delicate, intricate and organic process of the work.
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Unfortunately the second of the two sculptures exploded in the kiln however the final result was intriguing as it opened the opportunity for experimentation. This accident allowed me to glaze the individual shards in a myriad of ways and connect them back together as a puzzle. The result here was highly archaeological and the fragments were interesting as a series nonetheless.
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