Nilou Ghaemi is a ceramic artist with a focus on hand-building and sculptural works. Experimental processes are a driving force within her practice, pushing clay beyond its expected boundaries. The work is an amalgamation of perceived reality and fantasy, dissolving boundaries between time and space. Clay as a shapeshifting material is contradictory by nature, both fragile and seemingly everlasting, making ceramics a fitting medium for exploring the ideas and experiences around decay, ephemerality and memory.
Nilou Ghaemi is a ceramic artist with a focus on hand-building and sculptural works. Experimental processes are a driving force within her practice, pushing clay beyond its expected boundaries. The work is an amalgamation of perceived reality and fantasy, dissolving boundaries between time and space. Clay as a shapeshifting material is contradictory by nature, both fragile and seemingly everlasting, making ceramics a fitting medium for exploring the ideas and experiences around decay, ephemerality and memory.
stoneware, glaze, wood, epoxy, wall hanging
40" H x 30" W x 2" D
The inspiration for my capstone project springs from my fascination with textures of sedimentary rocks, specifically conglomerates. These natural formations are deposits of preexisting rocks and material that have accumulated slowly over time into another form. The visible fragments are evidence of decay that has transformed into something new. Through this the duality of decay and renewal, I explore the possibilities to create image based textural sculptures with clay.
The slab forms showing the outline of a seated figure are made up of 10 separate pieces. The imagery is sourced from family photographs, self portraits, and shadow outlines. The drawings are intentionally
manipulated. Through the act of remembering, the
figures become distorted. They are outstripped by
decaying memories, removed from the original moment and influenced by changes in perspective.