Cross-Pollination
Ceramic & Print Works September, 2022
Over time I have watched how some of my works evolved almost on their own. At first they would appear as deviations from a larger concept but once conceived their development seemed to have been driven by an inner necessity.
‘Cross-pollination’ is one of those stems that branched out from an extended body of work; an upcoming project for which I took prehistoric ceramics as an inspiration while I was trying to understand that epoch. The works therefore developed in appreciation of some of the earliest objects and the ways of their conception. How the natural and immediate environment had a profound influence upon design, as tools imitated the teeth of the prey animals, the handles of drinking vessels were ear-like elongated, and containers to store grains were decorated with fish-bone patterns.
I began to build forms that followed a similar trajectory but somewhere down that path I started to examine my works under the lens similarly to that of Karl Blossfeldt‘s images, ‘Urformen der Kunst’, published in 1928.
The German photographer known for his very precise almost sculptural photography of plants has been associated with Modernism (Bauhaus), Surrealism and New Objectivity. His ingenious use of composition to formulate perception has enriched this body of work and driven me to create not just ceramic sculpture but also prints.
This collection contains over fifteen sculptures, vessels, tray-like objects and prints developed from the photographs taken of the same work.
Cross-pollination (botany)
The transfer of pollen from the flower of one plant to the flower of a plant having a different genetic constitution.
New-varieties
The genetic variability within the new cross-pollinated population has certain evolutionary advantages in ensuring survival of the species.
Four new-varieties in black stoneware, internally glazed.
23x23x30 cms approx.
Karl Blossfeldt, 1928
Latika Nehra, 2022
Karl Blossfeldt, 1928
Pollinators
Effective pollination involves the transfer of pollen and is effected by wind, water, animals, primarily insects and birds.
Birds & Bees. Four pollinators in black stoneware, glazed.
16x7x26 cms approx.
Pistil
The female reproductive part of a flower.
Stigma, Style & the Ovule. Three organs in pale-white stoneware, unglazed.
12x12x40 cms approx.
Corolla
The part of a flower that consists of the separate or fused petals and constitutes the inner whorl of the perianth.
Variations within the family. Four flowering objects.
28x28x12 cms approx.
In a letter written by Karl Blossfeldt to the director of the Königliche Kunstgewerbemuseum in April 1906, he expresses;
“I would very much welcome their being used in some way, either as inspirational material in individual classes, libraries, etc. for a wider audience and, above all, for all students. . . . The sculptor . . . can only make profitable use of the smaller, simpler plants that grow wild. There plants are a treasure trove of forms — one which is carelessly overlooked only because the scale of shapes fails to catch the eye and sometimes this makes the forms hard to identify.”
What has been the most interesting aspect of this exercise is the intersection and reversal in points of view. The photographer through his enlarged negatives of plants saw a sculptural quality which he hoped would inspire his students. In my process, a study of botany, plant features in particular revealed themselves as I closely examined the hand-built sculptures. Developing the prints was rewarding and brought the two views closer together.
Diaspore
A plant dispersal unit consisting of a seed or spore plus any additional tissues that assist dispersal.
Spread, Shed, Scatter, Diffuse. Four new releases, in sculpture & in print.
Credits & Acknowledgements:
Rijksmuseum; Rijkstudio, Plantstudie online archives | Art Blart - Karl Blossfeldt, Exhibition, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich | Hanako Murata - Material Forms in Nature: The Photographs of Karl Blossfeldt | Karl Blossfeldt: Masterworks: Hansjorg Kuster | Editor - Volker Gross | & Brigitte Gross