Severance is a ceramic installation which presents a landscape of division and control. For this project Angela Hayes considers the artificial overlays of human made systems that force conformity and sever the dynamism of natural patterns. Read as a whole, the continuity and rhythm of the slab forms are interrupted by the Vitrine grid of quads to represent a constructed landscape of disrupted connectivity and isolated tracts. Angular geometries, planar forms and unadorned surfaces reflect linear and vertical urban perspectives and ordering by the built environment.
Angela Hayes creates ceramic sculptures from her inner-city studio in Melbourne. Hayes studied Fine Arts - Ceramics at Queensland College of Art and later completed a Bachelor and Master of Landscape Architecture at the University of Melbourne. Her landscape architecture design practice, research and teaching has developed a distinct style and keen eye for design which is demonstrated in her ceramic work. Angela has received numerous awards for her design work. She has exhibited her ceramic sculptures interstate, in China and at numerous galleries in Melbourne. She finds inspiration in her urban environment and through experimentation with traditional ceramics processes.
Hayes’ ceramic sculptures originate from the study of the classic pouring vessel many years ago. The lip, the body, the foot, and the handle have evolved from wheel thrown vessels to contemporary slab-made architectonic forms. Curiosity and intrigue are developed in the viewer as the pieces depart from the functional constraints of the vessel and become instead, a receptacle for the artist’s voice. Hayes crafts a theatre with clay by contrasting stillness against a drama with form. Hand formed slab work of straight line; with planar, unadorned surface at once create both calm and a contrasting dynamic.
Image credit: Henry Trumble