Duct IV

Perhaps my biggest creative interest thus far has been the notion of the body as a container, an idea that has been in part inspired by my training as an art therapist, though it is not exclusive to it.

Most recently, I have become interested in the religious notion of the bodies as a container for the spirit as in the Bible it describes how our bodies are like fragile jars of clay containing a great treasure (2 Corinthians 4: 7). Within this description, I’m particularly drawn to the perceived vulnerability or frailness of the body and can make tangible links to the individual who enters therapy feeling equally vulnerable or susceptible to falling apart. On the other hand, clay (when wet) is a malleable material with an infinite potential to be shaped, moulded or worked on.

In my own art-making, my interest in clay is largely due to its malleability. A series of works I’ve started recently, whilst not made of clay, nonetheless resembles the dynamic qualities of clay being shaped on the potter’s wheel (see below). The image of clay being manipulated in this way is linked to my own understanding of therapy as a similarly transformative, yet hazardous, process.