Sculpture
6.25in (high) x 4in (wide)
Inspiration
And Still She Dances was an idea a long time in the making. Four years ago, an artist challenge got me thinking about what I feel strongly enough about to make a statement piece. The idea that quickly surfaced was the abuse of women, and I was surprised at the depth of my feelings about it.
Sadly, through the years I have personally known many women who have suffered abuse: rape, human trafficking, incest, domestic violence, child abuse, desertion, gender discrimination, glass ceilings, and more. They were from all economic, education, and age levels.
Yet every single one of them bounced back, a little scarred perhaps, but unwilling to be limited and defined by the evils inflicted upon them. They have all emerged unbroken and strong, through determination, faith, hope, perseverance, and belief in themselves. That was the story I wanted to tell: not about abuse, which often cannot be controlled but is forced upon you, but about overcoming and rising above it. I sketched out the concept, even named it And Still She Dances, but there it stayed in my artist journal, occasionally giving me a mental nudge.
Then last year I helped a friend manage through the trauma of her daughter’s abuse by her stepfather, and marvelled at her resilience, strength, and focus on helping the victim while bravely rebuilding her family as a single mom. When the Superbly Sintered call for entries came out, I decided it was time to create And Still She Dances as a tribute to the indomitable female spirit, which continually rises shining, joyful and triumphant above the abuse and brokenness inflicted by others. It’s my hope that after the exhibition she will find a permanent role inspiring the women coming to a women’s shelter I support.
Techniques
I sketched the original design several times, trying to capture the feeling of joy. I wanted a simple curved line stretching from the base to the outstretched hand, long enough to display three words on each side. Once I was satisfied with the sketch, I outlined it with a permanent pen and made several copies on a copier.
Using clear packing tape to cover the front and back of the copy made it stiff enough to use as a template and prevent it from drawing moisture out of my clay as untreated paper would have. I put it on one of the other copies and planned where curved drying supports would be needed to make the body very slightly hollow, and made these out of polymer clay.
Then I cut out the design with a needle tool, first one side then flipped over for the reverse side, and set them over the curved drying supports to dry. I also cut out the flowing hair and made the letters I needed for the words with a mold. Once everything had dried, I combined the front and back and carefully refined them. Then I added the hair and words to the front and let them dry.
Because the letters are so delicate, I reversed the piece onto a very fine piece of foam as I added the hair and letters to the reverse side. I very lightly refined them, drilled a hole in the foot extension so it could be wired to the base, and carefully cushioned it in fiber blanket on a kiln shelf. After firing, I added patina, polished and finished it and made the base.
The base was created by drilling and painting half of a wooden ball black. Then I rolled out sheet after sheet of copper clay, using letter stamps to create strips of words listing the evils and injustices, along with snaky and other sinister shapes. Each was refined and fired in carbon, with a sheet of stainless steel mesh above and below the fired clay to prevent carbon from adhering to the clay. One trick I use when firing high shrinkage rate clays like copper, as they can ‘catch’ on the stainless steel mesh as they shrink and break, is to put a piece of Thin Fire paper under it. That’s a ceramic paper used in glass firing which changes to a fine ceramic powder when it’s fired, creating a surface with very little drag so your piece can shrink as it fires without any problem. If you do this, always make sure to use a mask as you remove your piece and resift your carbon.
After adding patina and polishing the copper elements, I used a tack hammer to attach them to the base, then wired the dancer to screws embedded in the bottom of the base with silver wire.
Materials
Fine silver and copper metal clays
Wood
Fine silver wire
Tacks
