2nd Edition
Online International Ceramic Exhibition
Rachel Eng
To Displace Something
As humans we often categorize things to help us understand them better, some being either human-made or natural. I am interested in the similarities shared between these categories and the structures that humans implement and ones that would occur without us present. I see our environment and landscape as open systems worked on by outside forces, not exclusive of ourselves. My work grapples with topics, such as climate change, land use/development, and their connection to memory. By paying close attention to a small aspect of the system, I work to reveal the whole through an analysis of its parts.
I undertake projects that employ clay, video projections, and sounds to create layered and contemplative pieces as well as compositions using found materials. Change, decay, and regeneration are central content to these artworks in which the subject matter is our environment and our changing relationship to it. What is defined as ‘nature’ can be a variety of things, from a parking lot to a garden to a forest. These artworks are often driven by a question, and through the process of making more questions arise. I do not see the finished works as answers but a way to share an experience that possesses the complexity of these topics.
My current work investigates the idea of “deep time” and focusing on non-human events that have shaped our planet. This concept was originally developed in the 18th century and attributed to Scottish geologist James Hutton and the modern concept shows enormous changes throughout the existence of Earth, are the result of a long and complex history of developments, that occurred over a span of 4.55 billion years.
As humans it is difficult for us to grasp large numbers or things that we cannot see. When reviewing the history of this planet, the human inhabited period is merely a dot at the end of a very long line. Understanding parts of this rich history can help bring light to the rhythms and interconnectedness of systems and life forms from the past and in our present.
The temporary lifespan of the unfired clay installations and site-specific interventions comment on the transitory and ever-changing planet we live on. The forms reference organisms that recycle nutrients in our world and often times have amazing adaptations to different climates. They are foreign yet familiar, as many organisms that carry out these processes are looked over or too small to see with the naked eye.
They could
exist on land or water, or even billions of years ago, when our planet was uninhabitable for humans. These pieces continuously change throughout their exhibition, as a once lush landscape becomes brittle and fragile as it dries out. Cracked surfaces are reminiscent of sun-bathed parched grounds. Clay when unfired, can be recycled infinitely. The life of the material evolves, being re-constructed into a new piece or other times becoming part of the earth again, through its dispersal in the landscape. It is important that these works are made with my hands, the process and labor are a significant part in its meaning. I think about it in relation to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of creating sand mandalas, where after the laborious process of creating, the mandala is swept away.