Midlands ceramic artist Trayci Tompkins will present new
work at this year’s Witness Hilton Arts Festival. She appears with Di Erasmus
and Coral Spencer in the Three Non-Blondes exhibition.
With her latest series of sculpture pieces, ceramic artist
Trayci Tompkins is working her clay into new directions; engineering skills in
slab built forms, sculpting theatrical figurines using sausages of clay whilst
capturing moments of expression with her quirky clay dogs on chairs.
Created alongside her tactile hand-coiled vessels with
random effects from the smoke and Raku firings, Tompkins is currently enjoying
the intimacy and story-telling ability that clay sculpture brings. ‘It’s been a
wonderful journey for me to bring together past skills in theatre design and
characterisation, experimenting further with clay and its possibilities,” she
explains. “It’s also exciting to feel my hands work more freely with the clay
whilst letting go with the colourful stories as they play out in my head.
“The dogs are not created to represent specific breed types,”
she continues “ … rather more of an expression of character, personality and
quirkiness that one tends to relate to in our pets. My very energetic aging
Doberman, Frankie, has spent much of winter sprawled out rather comfortably on
the studio couch, shifting only to chase the occasional train that passes by,
so it’s little wonder my work has taken on a whole new angle. It is in
recognition of the absolute joy our animals give us, the often cheeky liberties
we allow them and the common bonding that occurs between us and our four-legged
friends that I choose to celebrate.”
With inspiration gleaned from everything around her, it is
little wonder to learn that Tompkins credits an image on a friends Facebook
page for her first ‘dog on couch’ creation. “Originally I was inspired by an
image post by a friend in the UK of her dog Leroy. Having met Leroy on my last
visit abroad, I knew instantly his bold assertive and utterly charming
character needed to somehow push me in a new direction with my work. I had been
working on a series of theatrical mannequins for Hilton arts festival last year
and really enjoyed combining my previous skills in costume design, pattern
cutting, and shoe making with my love of characterisation and all things
theatrical.”
Constructing the chairs in clay meant that each one had to
be designed and built using flat slabs of textured clay. Each piece is hollow
with the occasional air hole strategically placed to allow the air to escape in
the firing. The dogs are constructed from a hollow ball of clay rather than
carved from a solid lump – adding to the technical skill needed to take these
clay creations to the extremely unforgiving high temperatures of their
‘stoneware’ firings.
“This year, the theatrical figurines have ‘removed the mask’
and have become studies in body language and personality. Much like the
traditional clown portrays emotion, expression, and exaggeration, the figures
are a celebration of our humanness. Inspiration is gathered from important events and people in
my life, my emotional responses and growing understandings, coupled with an
interest in ancient philosophy, a dash of English poetry and the works of
William Shakespeare … wishing that I’d paid more attention to it all in Drama
school.
“Never certain whether a piece will survive the three kiln
firings I need to subject them to; I have learnt to become drawn in to the
‘making’ rather than the ultimate end result,” Tompkins adds. “Often you will
find me having a chuckle with my clay dog as he emerges looking goofy or caught
up philosophising along with my clay figure ... who is built always from the
feet up! Odd as it may seem, I always start with the boots and work up from
there. The face is the one of the last pieces to be made. A face gives the work
his /her personality and I would rather be guided by the language and story
that surrounds the piece before giving something so solid as a lasting facial
expression. Constantly pushing boundaries in my skill with this medium of clay
I am rewarded with new and fresh approaches to its ability to endure. The high
stoneware firings are not a typical choice for ceramic sculpture. Complex clay
pieces tend to warp, crack, bend and blow, which makes for a whole lot of
excitement and nervous tension in the end result. I guess I don’t like boring
and predictable!”
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