‘Chase the Solution Not the Dragon’
 Ceramic Vase

 

Dimensions: 18 x14 x5

Materials: Laguna Frost cone 5, iron oxide, Chrysanthos underglaze bright blue, Porcelain Terra Sigillata, Roses are White glaze, wax resist.

Processes: Wheel thrown form in two sections, 10 iron oxide transfers, carved, hand painted blue underglaze, terra sigillata applied and burnished. Sprayed white glaze.

Firing Temp: 2232 (Cone 6)

One of my proudest university achievements to date, was a studio project for my Cultural Studies in Visual Art class. This ceramic vase references a 16th century Chinese piece. I used traditional and contemporary methods to decorate the vase. The imagery I chose to use was based off pieces from the Ming dynasty period.

I incorporated some contemporary text (my Shane Koyzan winning poetry submission, fentanyl health warnings, a newspaper article, and imagery) to reference the Fentanyl epidemic in Canada. The fentanyl that is killing hundreds of people is believed to be coming from China; it’s a personal topic for me as I lost my housemate just over a year ago, my best friend 8 years ago, and struggled with an opiate addiction myself.

“The only way we’ll ever touch the problem of addiction is by developing and fostering viable culture.”-Dr. Bruce K. Alexander

The solution for me personally was nurturing my creativity (attending art school), living in a supportive community like Nanaimo.