'Am I Still Your Charm' 2009
 

”I have often imagined the monster of sleep as a heavy giant head with a tapering body held up by the crutches of reality. When the crutches break, we have the sensation of falling” Salvador Dali

‘Am I Still Your Charm’ saw my technical abilities in slab-building with porcelain develop, and that with integrating lettering and textiles. I had a fascination with words, written language and that of individuals understanding and differing interpretations of this information. I was also inspired by the Surrealist movement; allowing myself to playfully see things in a different way and take a break from the stresses of reality, or my preserved reality. For as long as I can remember I have struggled with my head, with self-esteem and low mood. Being create is my therapy, it's my escape, my way to self-express, my little world.

A story is written around the box, and can be read; however, the design has been made challenging, creating a puzzle to be cracked, a mystery to be solved. Concealing the message was a visual representation of how I protect myself, of owning my reality, of not wanting to be simply unpicked. This idea has been explored further in the ‘All Is Black Is Really White’ series.

Included are two tags, a quote from Salvador Dali and something of my own, "A rug, a decorative edition that gets walked over". The rug was a self-representation and perhaps that for most people; I was shy, awkward and felt beaten down; my communication was through my work.

This project was also a seed into introducing the living natural world into my work. Succulents found their home in two of the boxes. It’s interesting, how putting a plant into a ceramic vessel seems to devalue a piece. This idea of the vessel being functional, morphing into craft, not art, and so of a lesser status.