Victoria Eden

This piece grew from the Guarded Space pieces of last year as I continued to explore the notion of an unknowable interior.

The glittering but time worn facade makes it difficult to assess the dark and mysterious interior. Meanwhile the walls enclose an inner space that feels almost impenetrable as the perforations allow the viewer only limited access to the space within.

Smoke fired terracotta clay with 24 carat gold leaf  

H:50 W:30 D:8cm

side view

The golden exterior is only a facade and what lies behind is ravaged by time and the elements.

Where does the truth lie?

Smoke fired terracotta clay with 24 carat gold leaf  

H:50 W:30 D:8cm

(Wall Piece)

An individual becomes unique in many different ways . One important factor in what makes us is our DNA inheritance, yet most of us know little about our genetic make up, it is an aspect of of our unknown interior.

The perforations are a visual metaphor for this unknown basis to ourselves.

Smoke fired terracotta, 24 carat gold leaf

H:31 W:31 D:3.5cm

(Wall Piece)

We may have knowledge of our parents and grandparents and of relatives even further back than that, but our unknown genetic inheritance is mysterious and reaches deep into history.

The exterior is marked by time and fire yet inside there is light and gold that hint at hidden resources.

Smoke fired terracotta, 24 carat gold leaf

H:21 W:21  D:3.5cm

(Wall Piece)

The exterior is rich and tempered by the forces of nature but the interior remains difficult to discern.

The perforations offer a clue to the hidden inside.

Smoke fired terracotta clay with 24 carat gold leaf  

H:24 W:27 D:3cm

The terracotta surface is stained with smoke and finished with 24 carat gold leaf.

Crank terracotta fired to 1000C , smoke fired then gilded with 24 carat gold.

(Wall Piece)

The outer facade is richly embellished yet it is also decayed and altered by the passage of time and the forces of nature. The base material is beginning to push through the gilding. Meanwhile the apertures speak of a huge genetic inheritance and provide brief glimpses of the interior.

There are more questions than answers.

"The process of life is the unravelling of the truth about ourselves."  Anthony Seldon

Smoke fired terracotta clay with 24 carat gold leaf  

H:24 W:51  D:4cm

(Wall Piece)

Layers of colour create a facade that offers restricted and controlled glimpses of the interior.

It is not possible to view the golden inner space as a whole.

Glazed terracotta clay with 24 carat gold leaf interior 

H:21 W:21 D:3.5cm

(Wall Piece)

The space within is seen through layers of rich slipware glazes.

The repeated apertures are redolent of an individual's unknown genetic inheritance.

Glazed terracotta clay with 24 carat gold leaf interior. 

H:31 W:31 D:3.5cm

(Wall Piece)

The watery surface creates a facade that diverts eye from the interior. It is clear that there is a volume of space behind the reflections but how can it be accessed?

Glazed terracotta clay with 24 carat gold leaf  

H:24 W:49  D:4cm

(Wall Piece)

The outer layer reflects the environment back to the viewer, but it is viciously slashed to reveal a golden space within.

Glazed terracotta clay with 24 carat gold leaf  

H:32  W:32  D:3.5cm