Holding Spaces 2012

Bags of clay

In a general sense, the handbags we use as part of our everyday lives in the outside world hold a tension between the intimate and the public areas of our lives. They both conceal and allude to the invisible intimacy of their internal spaces and contents. As aesthetic objects divested of their functionality, clay handbags reference the everyday and simultaneously symbolise the invisible nature of our internal experience. In this way they refer to what we have inherited and to what we make of our inheritance when engaging with the world. They speak to our common human condition of having an internal invisible life while simultaneously navigating the challenges of the external world.

Julia’s clay handbags are all hand built. She uses clay that is strengthened with grog. Most of the bags are fired to high stoneware temperatures. Julia uses both soft slabbing and traditional coiling techniques to construct her handbags. Soft slabbing harnesses the softness and tendency of soft clay slabs to sag when wet, imitating the sagging of leather or fabric bags. Coiling provides a strong and durable structure and offers a different quality to the final finish and presence of the work. When dry, the clay becomes solid and sculptural while still retaining a soft sagged look. This introduces a tension that contributes to the overall aesthetic of the bags; they may look soft but they are very solid.

Clay is a substance that is taken directly from the earth; working in clay is a way of engaging directly with the earth. Julia uses earthy toned glazes and oxides to achieve a finish that maintains the link with the clay’s origins. This adds to the complex way in which the clay handbags reference real bags through their form and are distanced from the everyday and the world of fashion and function; they thus exist as symbols that offer opportunities for a rich and engaging experience.

This group of works, from 2012, are titled Holding Spaces