tea time
sterling silver, copper, enamel, liquid enamel, micron pen
12.5 cm x 10.5 cm x 2.5 cm
2023
I was able to create tea time, my fourth piece, based on a learned practice that began when I was young. It consists of a rendition of a plate that is a staple in my family home. I used liquid enamel to fragment the form of the dish, wash it out and reconstruct an iteration of it that is not identical, but from memory. Visual memories are being built up in layers while I formulate the details. The base of the plate is white, there’s large color blocks in a washed out blue or red, and there’s some graphic quality that I can’t seem to put my finger on. I try hard to trace my memory, the moments my mother had served some of my favorite meals on that plate. As a kid, I would trace my finger along the perimeter as if the colors were flowing out of my hands instantaneously. I remember when there were four plates and now there are only two. These plates were so ingrained in my upbringing and my home life, yet as I get older, I can only remember the base of the plate being white and the watercolor presence of the colors, the fragmented form.
Creating this piece was an attempt to encapsulate a moment in time, the piece is so stagnant in nature. In tea time, I construct a silver basket to suspend the teabag in the air, to capture its fleeting time. In the future I have a desire to continue this narrative of memory, especially memories escaping. I am interested in articulating memory and unintentional forgetfulness or suppressing memories you're fearful of facing through erasure. I want to lean into the scale shifts I’ve utilized in these five pieces. I am curious about the language of scale and how larger forms may represent something more current, and smaller forms reflecting memories that I have to dig for. I am also interested in the idea of a blur, and how events that happened when I was a younger are not visualized with such clarity. There's a smear over the surface of a memory, a gap, a blank to fill in with personal context. By smudging my fine lines, the ideas of natural imperfections and remembrance would compliment my ideas revolving around the passing of time.
