After having several meetings to discuss the marker portraits I was working on in relation to the tiles I have been doing for several years now I've worked out a new direction to go in to combine both of these sets of work. For a short period in my undergrad I was interested in the idea of shrines and decorated portraits and did a small set of screen prints/collages working along this line of thought. In retrospect they were not handled perfectly and eventually I set them aside not knowing where to take the idea. After the concept of shrines was recently brought I started rethinking the idea. I enjoy the notion of celebrating the usually put down, and that's something I've always striven for in my monster pieces. However my ceramic and marker portraits didn't quite hit the mark and I've been looking for a way to push them further. So I'm revisiting the idea of shrines with a combination of 3D and 2D.
I've already begun the construction of the first shrine, it's currently an open ceramic box that will eventually hang on a wall. I plan to decorate the outside of the piece with carving and underglaze details. The inside back of the piece will feature an underglazed portrait in the same style I have been doing my marker drawings. The inside walls will also be decorated via underglaze and carving. The inside 'floor' of the piece is still something I'm thinking about. I would like to include objects, both symbolic and literal, that match up with the subject of the shrine. I have yet to decide if these objects will also be ceramic or if I will create them in another media or get the actual physical objects I'd like to have displayed.
I'm super excited about this new line of thinking and I feel like it will give the subjects of my work more characterization and create a visually compelling piece that can be viewed from multiple perspectives. I also believe this will add an element of respect and, depending on what direction I take the work, saintliness.
