rachael MARNE jones
Canton, New York, USA
Rachael M. Jones
Rachael Jones, Seed Bank Bisection Diagram (an informational tool for The Seed Bank Project, founded by the artist in 2017, and ongoing). Double walled, slipcast porcelain, beeswax & nichrome chain. Electric fired, mid-range. Approximately 7” x 5” x 6”, and the chain length depends on the permafrost level of where it is being buried (anywhere from 1-6 feet in length). The Seed Bank Project is a social collaborative that puts seed banks into the hands of people around the world in order to save seeds that have cultural, and ecological significance to the place they call home. Over 35 Seed Banks are buried all over the world. For more information, see http://www.rachaelmarnejones.com/sbp.html
Rachael M. Jones, Precious Metals, 2019. Slip cast porcelain, glaze and luster. Electric, mid-range 12” x 12” x 6”
When the lockdown hit, I was teaching full time, so I had a lot of adjustments to make. Completely redesigning four studio courses in the period of a spring break was overwhelming, so my ceramic studio practice took a back seat.
But I was able to draw at home. I often use drawing as a way to work through emotions/subconscious thoughts, making what I call “flow-state drawings” that are completely dependent on my responsiveness to the graphite, and how I’m feeling on a given day. These drawings were a great way to work through the isolation and the wide range of emotions I felt in response to the pandemic and the lockdown. You can see the frantic lines, paired with quieter moments, akin to a topographic map of my mind.
I was able to get more into the groove of teaching about a month into lockdown, and was actually excited by the realization that my day to day life had become more flexible, which is a huge advantage when working in clay. I was able to get back into the studio after a month or so, and began a series of sculptures I have been thinking about for a long time, titled “New Geology”. This series explores human engineered materials, and how they are being transformed through geological processes, such as the burning of plastics on beaches, which forms a new conglomerate called “Plastiglomerate.”
Previously, my studio practice had shifted to accommodate working in the confines of limited free time. I started casting individual pieces and glazing them together in the final firing. Excited with the results, I wanted to push this further after lockdown with more layering and glaze experimentation. With more free time, I was also able to explore more experimental casting processes, and incorporate those into the aesthetic of geologic metamorphosis—watching the sculptures bend and transform from the heat of the kiln.
It’s interesting to see the aesthetic parallels between the drawings and the sculptures, particularly this very personal struggle to balance and find beauty within the chaos… to accept that which we can’t control through visual play…to allow myself to fail…to expose my own fragility through the material.
Rachael M. Jones, Entropy Study Up Hyalite Canyon, 2018 Slip cast porcelain colored with mason stain, fired to cone 6, currently in a state of symbiotic decay within a tree stump. Electric fired, mid-range. Dimensions variable; each piece is roughly 3-6” long.
During Lockdown, Rachael M. Jones explored her innate desire to balance and find beauty within the chaos through her “flow state” graphite drawings, and BEGAN a new series of sculptures, entitled New Geology.
Rachael Jones, New Geology: Plastiglomerate #2, 2020. Slipcast porcelain, Mason stains & crystalline glaze, Electric fired, Mid-Range. 13” x 10” x 5.5”
Rachael M. Jones, New Geology: Plastiglomerate #3 (Origin Story), 2020. Slipcast porcelain, Mason stains and crater glaze. Electric fired, mid-range. 14” x 12” x 5”
Rachael M. Jones, Flow State Drawing #1, 2020. Graphite on vellum, 18” x 24”
Rachael M. Jones, Flow State Drawing #3, 2020. Graphite on vellum, 18” x 24”
Rachael M. Jones, New Geology: Plastiglomerate #1 (Origin Story), 2020. Slipcast Porcelain, Mason Stains & Glaze. Electric fired, mid-range. 14” x 12” x 5”