Francesca Aggio makes large scale pots and wraps them in rope and clay. Why? Read on to find out.
How do you make your work?
I coil the body of the vessel using stoneware and then apply detail using porcelain paperclay. The contrast of the two clays and how they react to each other during firings works really nicely and fits in well with the theme of my piece.
What makes your work different from anyone elses?
I made it! No, its different due to its personal nature. This work, to me is putting my feelings about many things in my life into a vessel and presenting it to the world. Essentially it is a self portrait, even though this was unintentional.
There are so many artists using the human form, especially the female form in their work, but this feels more like a kind of homage to me (and I mean that in the least self obsessed way ever, because thats totally how it sounds) which, again, was never the intention. It helps that when you make a large scale piece of work, people automatcially try and relate it in terms of their own physicality.
If you had to work in any other medium, what would it be?
I think maybe metal? i’d love to see what could be achieved using rusty steel and bits of old junk, arranged in a similar way.
What is the biggest challenge you face with your work?
Admitting that this work is about me. I have put a lot of my life experiences into these pieces, good and bad and the idea of telling others what it is actually about terrifies me. I see this as weakness and cant help but be slightly ashamed by it.
How do you want people to react to your work?
What I want and what will happen are two completely different things. I want people to relate to the idea of struggle and entrapment and sexuality and all of the other things that this work is about, but what I actually think will happen is one of two things.
1 – people will see my work, read my statement and go, oh thats about bondage, she must be a weird sex freak or
2. People will see the work, and go, riiight, two pots with rope on…I don’t get it. Oooh there’s some shiny glass over there!!!
