‘Chase the Dragon’

 

Is the third installment in a series in response to the fentanyl epidemic in the US/Canada. The work makes reference to Chinese blue/ white porcelain. I incorporated some contemporary text ( a newspaper headline and imagery to reference the Fentanyl epidemic in Canada).

The fentanyl that is killing thousands of people is believed to be coming from clandestine labs in China; it’s a personal topic for me as I lost my housemate just over 2 years ago, my best friend 9 years ago, and struggled with an opioid addiction myself.

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

In this piece, I’m using a translucent porcelain clay body. Chrysanthos cobalt blue underglaze (manufactured in China) as a print medium to screen print the imagery onto newsprint. Then I transferred the screen print by using the volumetric transfer method to a freshly wheel thrown cylinder. The form was then shaped on the wheel carefully from the inside out so to not blur the imagery on the outside.

In the third installment, I have incorporated a hand blown glass component to really make the light a focal point of the piece.