Upcycled series

Works in this series represent a part of a broader interest to explore decorative surface as a visual language. The visual play, achieved with the singular motif used in a composition, evolves as a contradiction. In the process of creating an image on ceramics surface I substituted a basic visual element, a dot, with an image of a house fly. The fly has predominantly negative preconceived cultural connotations, while in fact, it is an insect that has a cleansing role as it helps with decay. As a dominant element, this “fly” appears in contrast to the way compositions are organized. While I rely on decoration, inherit to ceramic art, I offer an alternative take on it.

Works I have created since 2019, and especially during the pandemic, mostly belong to a series titled “Up-cycled”. The work is achieved on found objects that once held significant value based the level of craftsmanship and technology involved in their production. They were exclusive in their own way, but do not hold such purpose anymore being sold for a few dollars in thrift stores, or even trashed. My aim is to repurpose them by changing their appearance, and connotation. The use of energy, in terms of ceramics process, is reduced to a single low fire. I am also not forming raw clay but rather repurpose leftovers of the consumer culture. This type of recycling challenges the notion of the creative process on one end, and the technical processes used in studio ceramics in terms of energy use on the other.