CHECKERBOARD
Raku-fired and crystalline glaze stoneware, organic materials, cement, wood
200*200*10cm, outdoor sculpture
Skaelskor, Denmark | 2006
Central to this concept of this piece is the importance of play and curiosity to the process of learning - the fun experience of exploring a new environment. It is hoped the viewer is audacious enough to step onto the piece and move between the squares, like a scaled up chess piece in a game. Because the organic objects from the local environment pressed into the moulds have burnt away during the firing process, they leave behind only negative space and patterns. These are intended to encourage the viewer to crouch down and attempt to make connections with the origins of the impressions around them, often dependent upon a certain time of year. Colour is now all lost and what remains is an oily rainbow iridescent raku-fired charred surface. The other half of the segments are glazed white crystalline in reference to the snow that falls on the ground every winter in this area.