Angel Meadow / ceramics

 My plan for January includes getting one artwork finished! I currently have approx 5 artworks on the go. All progressing but non finished.

I decided this week to work on my Angel Meadow tangible time line. I need to complete a few pieces to add to my found items. One is going to be a piece to represent the 40,000 young people buried in the mass grave at Angel Meadow. Not an easy task. I need to balance between it having impact but not being macabre or gruesome.

I decided to try working in the ceramic studios. I have enjoyed this in the past and I want to bring ceramics into my practice, including them in my sculptures. I already have some plaster cast children's fingers I want to use. I plan to soak them in tea to give them a brown/skin coloured cast. I have used this process before in my 'For The Mothers of Gorton' sculpture. The tea element ties in with the Angel Meadow area (Manchester was famously built on tea - drinking tea enabled people to live in close proximity to each other. This allowed the Industrial Revolution to gather pace in Manchester). The tea adds a brownish colour which also brings out the details, lines in the skin and nail details.

It is still work in progress! My first attempts were not great. But here is the story so far.

First idea, looks too much like a zombie hand coming out of the ground!

Too much like 'For the Mothers of Gorton' hand?

(another sculpture of mine)

Trying crazy options with no luck

Block too heavy, like a weird hand

New clay and starting to work with a flatter surface

As far as I got, I've kept the clay damp, so I can re-work.

One idea is to grow grass from the clay with the fingers pushing through

(possibly still too zombie but more passive)