‘White Light’ was created during an Artist Residency (May-July 2015) with Flux Studios, AZ USA. My studio was housed within an old high school in Jerome, a ghost town perched upon a mountain top. Very much an eclectic town, drawing likeminded creative souls from all over the world the lifestyle was bohemian and new age.  

My creative approach is not premeditated, but a physical response inspired by my environment, thoughts and emotions. The people I met and places I saw influenced the project greatly, had I been anywhere else the outcome would have been different; there is such an organic beauty to that.

Specialising in slab-built porcelain sculptures, using this practice was a natural starting point for me in the exploration of the effects colours have. It is known that colours can affect a person’s mood and colour psychology has long had its place; in schools, the colour of a pen to use when marking papers, the colour of walls in a hospital. When feeling particularly anxious surround yourself in a calming soft blue, wear red for empowerment, passion and action…

White Light is made up of a spectrum of all the colours, when the light bends, like that of a rainbow, the colours separate and become visible to the eye.  Each colour travels at a different speed, each has its own wave frequency, and with that, its own unique energy. All energy has an impact on what's around it, an unseen power.

The 7 porcelain wheels of energy made during this residency explore the 7 colours of the rainbow; Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet. Each wheel represents one of these colours and explores its power. The flowers are symbolic of the organic effects colour has and signifies cycles within life. Everything has its own cycle and nature has a beautiful way of re-birthing and reminding ourselves of life’s journey. The project began and closed with a photograph of my aura, energy is ever in flux and this journey has been as much about self-discovery and learning to be more in tune as it has the physical pieces made.
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The most successful element was my test tiles and how I pinned them into my studio wall, like speciesism's on show. I made hundreds, exploring different percentages and combinations of pigments mixed into the porcelain clay. Each had a differing variation of flowers made on a disk of clay, in the same colour. These pieces were playfully moved around the studio walls- making patterns and seeing how the colours work with each other. These titles were the spark for a new project, Kaleidoscope, and a conceptual journey. I made porcelain flowers and butterflies using a different type of porcelain, Laguna Frost. This clay has the most incredible translucent quality, capitalising on this I rolled lace on either side of the clay before making the flowers and butterflies. When held up to the light all the lace details shine though, it really is magical. These babies were different for me as they were all separate pieces, my plan was to be playful, creating different combinations in different environments.

Two and a half months in, the project evolved when the kiln crash cooled during the biscuit firing stage (yes they were all in the same firing!). This took me right out of my comport zone, what on earth am I to do with 8 broken pieces? It’s a disaster! This forced a change and took me on a journey I did not expect.
Ideas included filming the pieces being smashed from a great height, although liberating this felt aggressive and negative. I thought about gluing my babies back together, but that would be creating a miss-truth, not accepting the path they were on.

I decided to take the pieces on a road trip; giving them the opportunity to interact with the environment which lead me to creating them. Along the way I left pieces in random places to be found, those that I did not were gifted to people who had emotionally touched me during my time. Locations where pieces were left include: The Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Park, Sedona, a McDonalds drive through (where I spent a night in my car) and a picturesque spot along the Verde River.