A pair of awkward, ceramic tea trays with impeded functionality; one low to the ground, skittling around on wheels, like a centipede-skateboard; the other too high to reach, with zippered, hand decorated legs. Chilopoda brings the functional castor of an indoor piece of furniture into a wonkily decorative context, poised to scuttle around the deck. Because I plunder different techniques and materials, I have embedded chance and the probability of things going wrong into the play of making. The stoneware top of Long-legger Feeding Table had a number of frustrating knocks in the firing process; the Komodo dragon’s tongue fork and human finger broke off; the tiles curled up so the grout ended up creating a sort of solid ice cream sandwich. Situated under the tree in a darker part of the garden, the fragmented body parts started to resemble more of a devious magpie’s feeding table, or the digits and titbits left after the vultures have cleaned up the corpses. This is the joy of experimenting and trying out different contexts for each piece, even within one location.

The Hide Installation & Sculpture Showcase, Stroud | Photo: Mair Hughes

Photo: @sarahmaingotphotography