Stacey Pamplin
Raw clay, wood, metal (reclaimed materials)
Raw clay, wood, metal (reclaimed materials)
Hard back book
Raw clay, wood, metal (reclaimed materials)
I am a Bristol based Sculptor and 2D artist. I investigate themes of interconnectivity within the domestic setting through material and craft processes, often working in direct response to objects. I integrate clay, wood and metal, exploiting material qualities and creating contrast between traditional craft and contemporary sculpture. My art evolves from a conversation between 2D and 3D working methods - a reflective cycle of making. Since graduating in Contemporary Arts Practice in 2019, I received the Pot Clays graduate award and have exhibited at the Heritage Art Centre in Wells (2019) and the Oxo Tower Wharf London (2019).
Website: www.staceypamplin.com
Instagram: @staceypamplin
Email: staceypamplin@hotmail.co.uk
Artist Statement
Drawn towards its unique craft, style and history, I am sentimental towards my antique chair. By making it the focal point in this body of work, I aimed to uncover its enigma and confront my attachment. This body of work reflects my inner conflict; my instincts against my desire to dismantle the chair and how these feed into the cycle of interconnectivity in my domestic setting.
Experiencing object attachment inspired ideas of balance, support and function. I explored these complex ideas through drawing and collage. Lines are often made intuitively, later translated into clay. For me, each line gestures towards material, movement or physical connections. This perpetual cycle of making between two and three-dimensional working remains crucial to my practice.
By pressing wood and metal into sculpted raw clay, I create scenarios that demonstrate material qualities. Over time, raw clay dries, cracking and shrinking against the rigid wood and metal, the materials slowly shifting against one another sometimes with destructive effects. In this way, the onlooker becomes a witness to a performance of material qualities and agency.
In contrast, pieces of wood, screws and brackets that fell from the chair during dismantling, are integrated with small sections of fired clay. Constructed partially with glue, the rigidity of these pieces allows me to explore joinery as a way to communicate values in history and craft without relying on it for structural integrity.
This body of work has presented new layers to an ongoing investigation. I have been forced to question how I value history, craft and material and act on these decisions. The resulting works are an homage to the chair, whilst gaining a deeper insight into the web of interconnectivity that spans the domestic setting and my position in it.