Bas-Relief Tableaux: Imagery and Symbols

I am often asked to describe my influences & inspiration; especially regarding the imagery & symbols in my tableaux. People who have traveled the world often assume there is a particular period or culture I'm fascinated with or a faraway place I've lived. Certainly there is a folkloric sensibility in my work- I feel it arises from my choice to use simple techniques. I make my own tools & carvings, and work directly, as people all over the world have done, in many mediums, for thousands of years.
My introduction to folk art - as a small child in San Francisco- was enchantment itself. I visited galleries with work from all over the world. I saw intricately sculpted bread-dough dolls from Mexico, patterned beaded bracelets from Africa, kaleidoscopically decorated eggs and matreshka dolls from Russia. What impressed me most was my sense of a universal language. All this work spoke to me of generations unfolding, traditions passing with love and blessings, a deep-down elemental hope for life, sustenance & regeneration. In all this work I saw renderings of the magic that lies at the heart of our lives.
Throughout my life I have worked to construct my own language to describe, map, illuminate & reflect my perceptions & inner world. This work is the result of several breakthroughs in the challenging process of developing my own visual language. My tableaux contain, reflect and illuminate many of my life concerns. Each is complex and multi-layered; I find it impossible to describe all there is in a given piece- if I could, I might be writing books instead of working with clay. Still, I’m often asked to describe some of what can be seen in my work...
For me, the birds are life force; that charged, one with the wind, soaring feeling. My heart beats faster as I see groups of starlings move, dip & turn in the sky like one giant being. I remember seeing them, & feeling them with an intense clarity, as if for the first time, one fall long ago. They helped to revive my dying spirit; reminding me of life and it's pulse after the sudden death of my sister.
Years before, in my teens, I spent an afternoon learning to hang-glide on a beach in California. I did fly, briefly. I was filled with the most tremendous feeling, like flying in my dreams- but truly real. I was so taken by the experience- I was awake and did not sleep, remembering the feeling, the impossible lightness, laughing and laughing all through the night.
This was the beginning of my birds, magic occurring in my everyday world. They are a symbol, to signify another way of being, of experiencing this world. In my reliefs, the birds exist in a kind of formation or pattern, in sync with their flock & its destiny. They do not stop to doubt- nothing interferes with their life force. They often circle orbs- planets in the sky. Look closer, they are circling a flower, which will in time bring forth seeds to sustain them. As they circle the flower, they become part of it’s radiating beauty, they become part of a larger circle of life. At other times I look at the same relief & see the path of single solitary bird, through time, having a wonderful experience all on her own.
When I work, I settle inside myself. I feel alone and yet surrounded by and filled with an energy that I feel is connected to every wonder I have ever experienced, the living spirit of my ancestors, and to people who have touched my life in some deep way. I carry them with me & in my studio we are all together - urging life on. My challenge is to find ways to map patterns & relationships not obviously apparent, which do exist, and extend through extraordinary spans of time, distance, and endure, despite inevitable transformations.

Artist Statement: Bas-Relief Tableaux

My work is about memory, essence and origins. Each tableau captures a time, and a set of relationships, in a symbolic and ever-changing ‘world’; a rendering of my vision, longings and sense of equilibrium.
A tableau is a dramatic scene or picture. The origin of the word is ‘tabula‘: a tablet used for paintings, inscriptions and memorial wall panels.These porcelain bas-relief tableaux are the result of a shared life and artistic partnership, which has spanned many years. This body of work continues to evolve; the seeds of its origin are found in the wood-ash glazes James and I developed in the early 1990’s, and a thematically related group of carvings I made in 1997 : ‘The Beginning of Her World’.
My first tableaux reflect an inner landscape, a world coming into being within mymind’seye. Symbolic images are arranged totem-like amongst rich textures and patterns; suggesting early language. Over time, a land appeared, firmament, a sense of place. As I continue to carve, and this world evolves, new possibilities are revealed. In this territory, I am creator, dreamer, and explorer. Sometimes I lose myself. The journey is challenging and exhilarating.
I often begin with sketches and notes to refine my ideas, and then work directly on the porcelain clay. I use a stylus to lightly ‘draw’, delineating different spaces, and then impress the borders of mountains, bodies of water and pathways with my thumbnail. I continue composing the piece, carving with a variety of hand tools, and impressing fired carvings, stones, shells, and lace into relief. The slabs of clay stretch while I work on them; when the surface is completed I carefully place each slab in a wooden frame, trimming and justifying each section so they will work together as a single piece. Close attention to drying and firing is necessary.
The colors come from our own wood-ash glazes. Wood is cleaned and burned, the ash is screened and test-fired. Small amounts of elements such as copper, cobalt, iron and titanium are blended with the wood-ash to form a glaze. Fired at high temperatures, the wood-ash fuses to become a glass, and the metallic elements fuse with the glass to form complex colorations and lustres.
James is my full-time partner and assistant. He facilitates the entire process, maintains the studio and equipment, prepares the slabs, processes ash and mixes glazes. James also designs and makes the unique wooden mountings, which make it possible to display these bas-relief tableaux.
Lisa TeviaClark