Artist: Ebony Gerlach
Title: Mirrored Reality
Medium: Water based white clay, mirror, cotton fabric
Size: 1.59 x 70 cm
My sculpture titled ‘Mirrored Reality’ is created using water based white clay, featuring myself encircled by broken mirror, with a cascade of fabric flowing down. The practice of sculpting clay has always captivated me with its quality to be so easily manipulated and how it captures the essence of the subject represented. It also allows you to visualise the movement of the clay, adding a prominent applied texture. I explored and was influenced by the Dutch sculptor Mooniq Priem. Her heavy worked texture within her portrait sculptures, adds an effortless and surreal aspect to her work. This depicts a sense of emotion that you can visually and emotionally appreciate. I embraced this explored texture within my sculpture to further heighten the feeling of a blurred perception in which I was trying to achieve.
‘Mirrored Reality’ is a representation of the destructive self-reflection and expectations we place upon ourselves in today’s society. I myself have been consumed by this damaging self-perception. Therefore, I wanted to create a sculpture that I could express these feelings in such a way that could captivate this emotion whilst also shining a light on its beauty. I feel using myself as the subject allowed for the sculpture to have an added vulnerability as I was able to expose and incorporate my emotions whilst working with the clay.
To create the bust a basic head shape base was used, which was made out of a foam head, modelling wire and newspaper. However, after the base was shaped, I didn’t have any restrictions and worked with the flow of the clay to resemble my reference images of myself. I used minimal tools and primarily worked with my hands, this technique enhanced the applied rough texture and added an organic movement to the surface.
Broken pieces of mirror were hung around the bust to further represent the self-reflection theme being presented. The sculpture reflecting on the pieces of mirror depicted the way we view ourselves as being broken, or never enough. And that we never truly are revealed to our true self and inner beauty because we are too focussed on what we look like on the outside. The material was hung incorporating wire to add depth and movement within the backdrop. The rich teal colour is expressing the inner beauty that’s within me and that from looking at myself as a whole I am covered in beauty and colour.
I was inspired by the Australian ceramic artist Lynda Draper, in particular her sculpture tilted ‘Blue Eyes’. The surrealist aspect within this sculpture allows you to view it for so much more than it is. I incorporated this aspect of her work into mine with the use of the distorted facial features. Although I was sticking to the basic facial features I wasn’t constrained by their realistic qualities. I decided to go with a further surrealist pathway within the sculpture to create this sense of thought within the bust.
The overall outcome of my sculpture has achieved and portrayed everything in which I was intending for. I have learnt that adding texture to a sculpture not only helps to expose the emotion but also makes the 3D form visually aesthetic. The idea of a blurred perception, and self-reflection is communicated perfectly within the sculpture and allows for the viewers to recognise and appreciate the vulnerability I have portrayed in my work.
Title: Mirrored Reality
Medium: Water based white clay, mirror, cotton fabric
Size: 1.59 x 70 cm
My sculpture titled ‘Mirrored Reality’ is created using water based white clay, featuring myself encircled by broken mirror, with a cascade of fabric flowing down. The practice of sculpting clay has always captivated me with its quality to be so easily manipulated and how it captures the essence of the subject represented. It also allows you to visualise the movement of the clay, adding a prominent applied texture. I explored and was influenced by the Dutch sculptor Mooniq Priem. Her heavy worked texture within her portrait sculptures, adds an effortless and surreal aspect to her work. This depicts a sense of emotion that you can visually and emotionally appreciate. I embraced this explored texture within my sculpture to further heighten the feeling of a blurred perception in which I was trying to achieve.
‘Mirrored Reality’ is a representation of the destructive self-reflection and expectations we place upon ourselves in today’s society. I myself have been consumed by this damaging self-perception. Therefore, I wanted to create a sculpture that I could express these feelings in such a way that could captivate this emotion whilst also shining a light on its beauty. I feel using myself as the subject allowed for the sculpture to have an added vulnerability as I was able to expose and incorporate my emotions whilst working with the clay.
To create the bust a basic head shape base was used, which was made out of a foam head, modelling wire and newspaper. However, after the base was shaped, I didn’t have any restrictions and worked with the flow of the clay to resemble my reference images of myself. I used minimal tools and primarily worked with my hands, this technique enhanced the applied rough texture and added an organic movement to the surface.
Broken pieces of mirror were hung around the bust to further represent the self-reflection theme being presented. The sculpture reflecting on the pieces of mirror depicted the way we view ourselves as being broken, or never enough. And that we never truly are revealed to our true self and inner beauty because we are too focussed on what we look like on the outside. The material was hung incorporating wire to add depth and movement within the backdrop. The rich teal colour is expressing the inner beauty that’s within me and that from looking at myself as a whole I am covered in beauty and colour.
I was inspired by the Australian ceramic artist Lynda Draper, in particular her sculpture tilted ‘Blue Eyes’. The surrealist aspect within this sculpture allows you to view it for so much more than it is. I incorporated this aspect of her work into mine with the use of the distorted facial features. Although I was sticking to the basic facial features I wasn’t constrained by their realistic qualities. I decided to go with a further surrealist pathway within the sculpture to create this sense of thought within the bust.
The overall outcome of my sculpture has achieved and portrayed everything in which I was intending for. I have learnt that adding texture to a sculpture not only helps to expose the emotion but also makes the 3D form visually aesthetic. The idea of a blurred perception, and self-reflection is communicated perfectly within the sculpture and allows for the viewers to recognise and appreciate the vulnerability I have portrayed in my work.