My Golden Monkey.
I took a summer class in the UK with Susan Halls, before Covid struck… Susan, known for her animal sculptures, and me loving both animals and the UK, this was a class for me !
We used red paper clay. Ready manufactured, right out of a bag.
After the initial learning of her technique on how to build an animal, we all started making our own. The whole class was very much into with hares and horses and the occasional pig, but I decided on a monkey. I was in need of something more exotic and having just done a few sketches of monkey faces, just for fun, the animal was very much on my mind and an obvious choice.
My classmates would have their pieces fired at the school and somehow arrange its pick-up. I, however, would have to take him home and fire him in my kiln. I could now make him to the max size to fit into my kiln.
The class was great fun, I worked hard, really pushed myself, but did not finish him during the course. Very kindly, the staff at West Dean College helped me with loading him into my car. He got home safely.
I was then sharing a studio with Lot, who works only in porcelain. It was a daily job of at least half on hour, to clean up my studio area to make sure there would not be any contamination between her porcelain and my red clay.
I often stuff the inside my clay forms with newspaper. It helps with keeping the shape of hollwo forms and also with keeping the moisture of the clay sort of even.
Paper just burns away in the kiln and is not an issue.
So, this monkey had paper in his limbs, torso and head.
Finally, he is done. Putting him in the kiln is delicate. He is heavy and I carry him with his back against me, so his legs, toes, arms and fingers are up front. Once he is on the kiln shelf, I am relieved, he faces the back of the kiln but that is of course of no importance.
Imagine the surprise, after firing, when I took him out, turned him around and discovered his face! The extra heat of the burning stuffed newspaper escaped via those eye holes. Maybe the chemicals of the ink helped too …?
However, as pleased as I am, I can see a few cracks.
Most likely these cracks “happened” during the trip from the UK to Brussels and/or another trip from the studio to my apartment, where my big kiln was at that time.
Anyway, his face makes up for them.He gets a spot, in open air, on my terrace.
But as winter hits, the cracks “suffer” and both, an arm and a leg, come off. There is this Japanese lacquer and ceramic mending technique, called “Kintsugi”, meaning “Golden Joinery”.
It is used on bowls. The broken pieces are glued back together by adding gold pigment to a resin or epoxy glue. The philosophy behind it, is to embrace the wear and tear of an object and being able to use it even after damage/breakage. The gold seam, making the breakage very explicit, is an intricate part of the object.
Only Japan and Japanese art somehow get this “done in style”.
My monkey is of course not a useful bowl... But, considering the time and effort invested in his creation and his gorgeous face, I am not ready to destroy the piece. I am actually quite pleased with his overall look & feel and want to enjoy him some more.
So, I repair the arm and the leg, the Kintsugi-way.
Another surprise is that, the very obvious irregular gold seam is not an eyesore.
Actually, it being as obvious as it is, it is far less bothersome than a thin layer of glue that is not done with restorer’s perfection. You know what I mean: when glued pieces are in place but the shine of some spilled glue just besides the crack and the crack itself are more apparent than the repair initially promised.
But not here. My dear friends, honestly, my monkey “rocks” his golden repairs.
True to the Japanese philosophy, the gold and the lumpy-ness of the glue do become an intricate part of the object.
I am now at 4 repairs. A gust of wind sent a chair flying into his foot and tail…
Come what may, no matter how much more repairs he will need in the future,
I will keep putting him back together again the Kintsugi-way.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
Nursery Rhyme
