Inguz Project

For my final project of my Ceramics Masters course I chose to continue my previous projects, looking into neurodiversity and neurotpicallity within society and how they could integrate.

At the beginning I knew I wanted this piece to be an installation and for it to be interactive. To look is only to use one sense, however sight and concentration does not suit everyone, and use of one sense alone does not build a full experience.

Part of the reason for using fresh cut, seasoned logs was in order to create a subtle but pleasant smell, the logs also lend their interesting textures to excite touch along with the feel of the different clays and glazes in the masks and sherds.

The combination of using the senses and inviting viewers to interact with the piece, to look through the masks, to decipher the text and to take away their own grounding object to keep and use creates a well rounded experience which lives on after people have left the gallery. This is the experience I wanted people to have, to take part in.

Some of the people I spoke to commented on their enjoyment of the piece, they summarised what they gleaned from it, what they thought it was about and each interpretation was indeed what I had intended, they got the gist of issues around neurodiversity in society but they had also added onto this theme with their own personal experiences.

That was a beautiful thing to hear, each interpretation with the same base but a different understanding in its totality, each a personalisation. I never want to tell a person how to think or feel, I dont believe that is what art is intended for. I like to think of it as a way to offer up a perspective or highlight an idea or issue to be considered on an individual basis.

I am so pleased with the response to this work, it is just what I hoped and more. There were people who enjoyed it and were moved by it and went away thinking about it and that is what this project was all about. This for me has been a successful piece.

To read more about this work follow this link - Inguz Project