sĭn'āps'

China Experience

2011-06-10T08:16:00.000-07:00

......

2011-06-04T04:16:00.000-07:00

before firing

after firing

The China Experience

2011-06-04T03:56:00.001-07:00

Memories

2011-06-01T22:14:00.001-07:00

Revolving...play

2011-06-01T22:08:00.000-07:00

The Cephalopod

2011-06-01T22:05:00.001-07:00

2011-05-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

2010-07-18T20:42:00.001-07:00

2010-07-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

Sensualitea & Empatea

2010-02-07T07:22:00.000-08:00

Sensualitea

Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid, facts of everyday existence. It inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the romanticism of the social order. It is essentially a worship of the Imperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in this impossible thing we know as life.

Kakuzo Okakura

To extract the teapot out of the philosophy of tea is a compelling organic metaphor, isolating the sensual in humanity. Here, I am exploring function not as purpose, but as subject. Although bearing the features of a conventional teapot, this implication questions the practical aspects of its actual function for the sake of more concentrated contemplation on its visual conundrum.

The bellied vessel, along with its handle shaft, is thrown in one piece, indented at the base of the shaft and then joined at the spout. This is difficult to achieve, as the indentation is the weakest point of the piece, balancing the tall shaft in its upright position throughout the entire throwing process.

If you free your mind and look into the sculptural aesthetic, you will see that it signifies the sensibility of a transmuted interaction between the clay and the hands of the sculptor. With the help of a little imagination, you will begin to feel its sensuality.

Written by Sean Lacey

Empatea

The Teapot Song:
I'm a little tea pot,
Short and stout
Here is my handle
Here is my spout
When I get all steamed up,
Hear me shout
Just tip me over and pour me out!

Remember when you learned this childhood rhyme? You not only learned the words, but also pretended that you were a teapot, making gestures and having fun with your imagination. It was, in a sense, putting yourself in another’s shoes, allowing you to share consciousness with a personified being, embracing its figurative form and emotions.

Reading about a feeling or intellectually knowing about one is very different from actually experiencing it yourself. How connected a person is to another, relies very much on the degree to which one is able to feel through the many experiences of life. Empathy begins with living an experience through another person, from their point of view, or in some sense, either figurative or literal, having experienced it oneself.

Based upon the concept of empathy, I hope to extract this intangible element from the human experience. Where as children we took on the form of a teapot, now we lend human experience back to the teapot.

Written by Sean Lacey

Tiger teapots

2010-02-04T20:47:00.001-08:00

2009-12-14T23:03:00.000-08:00

New works

2009-11-07T20:39:00.000-08:00

2009-10-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

2009-10-04T12:31:00.000-07:00

http://www.asianart.com/exhibitions/ringoffire/index.html.
to view more photos, look under the exhibition section.

Seeing infinity inspires a finite world

2008-12-13T09:23:00.000-08:00

End of July 2008 I submitted this piece of work for a local sculpture competition in the Penang Island. Made out of cardboard and pvc pipes. It was great fun. The sculpture is about creating a symbol to represent Penang in a tomorrow's perspective. And it is also about spearheading a nation into a cyber mentality.
Here is a brief synopsis of my work:
A world of inspiration is a world aspired and motivated to simply better our lives. It is one of the most important ingredients to shape a better future. In the past we have seen its power manifested in creating the 7 wonders of the world, the masterpiece in music and art to the journey into space. This inspiration continues the legacy to the next generation of inspired people. These are the people to see and experience the fruition of inspired thoughts. We know the past and we see the infinite future ahead of us and we inspire as a nation: Penang - Malaysia - The World, and we can cyber the world into an infinite horizon.
The cube symbolizes the four corners of the world. The negative space within the cube forms an eye. The cylinder in the centre representing the pupil has two mirrors at two ends. There is a peephole from the center and bottom of the cylinder that allows people to see in. There are rings of holes along the cylinder to allow the natural light to penetrate through to illuminate the interior. With the mirrors at both ends, you will see a reflection of "infinity". Because this sculpture is about inspiring the people, thus interaction with the public is crucial to get the idea across. Fully metal chrome preferred to give a high-tech-look and strength to withstand the elements.

2008-11-15T07:31:00.000-08:00

2008-11-15T01:34:00.000-08:00

Quixotica

2008-05-08T20:14:00.001-07:00

The Quixotic Experience
A Chinese born out of China, traveled to a western world embracing a tradition of ‘wabi’ belonging to the Japanese culture; once again, the marvel of globalization, the modern world without borders. But the essence is still an age old one, finding the soul and breathing life into the beauty of the modest and humble. Finding an aesthetic where reason is motivated by perception and yet surrendering it all to the hands of flame within an Ogama kiln.
It was a magical experience from the first moment of igniting her and watching her come alive. Awakening the dragon from her silent sleep. For three whole days continually, these pots stood in her bosom, nourished and coloured. Imprinting the expression of flames on the pots.
My first artist-in-residency and Quixotica was the muse. I could hear my thoughts with clarity and it flowed through my hands onto the clay. Truly inspirational!

2007-12-02T10:37:00.001-08:00

remind

2007-11-12T09:43:00.000-08:00

I had great fun distorting the faces from inside out. Thay are Januses actually though not shown clearly here. Will update with another photo soon.

2007-11-11T23:11:00.000-08:00

“It’s when people move that photos get lost. My mother moved between twenty and twenty-five times in the course of her life, and that’s how our family photos got lost….”
A wonderful prose written by Marguerite Duras that made an impression in my mind years ago and that impression was rekindled in a different light with the November 2007 issue of National Geographic and a novel by Umberto Eco which similarly talks about the mind and memory in the life we come to know and realize till today. They are like photos taken and put in albums within the mind. Our very existence depends upon it and somehow immortalized by the people we love and who loves us. The memory stays as a time capsule that we can hold on to and plays back to remind ourselves of the emotions felt and life experienced. “Common yet invaluable, habitual yet evolving.” It is so intangible that it is frightening to consider losing it all. Let this moment be cherished and remembered with this very thought!

memory [two of a kind]

2007-11-11T23:10:00.001-08:00

memory [one of many]

2007-11-11T22:53:00.000-08:00

An installation concept to occupy a small room or a corner of an exhibition space. Here I am exploring the idea of an experience walking through a narrow path across a floor scattered with numerous sculptures akin to these 3 photos. A similar interaction portrayed of ventures into our memories and life experiences represented here in a visual form.

memory [one of many]

2007-11-11T22:49:00.000-08:00

There are visible surface cracks if you stoop down to look closely. Just SEE what you think! Life isn't a bed of roses and roses do have thorns.

2007-07-10T03:52:00.000-07:00

This is a raku pot by Neil Boughton. A great friend and teacher who lives at Fitzroy Falls Australia. You just have to hear him talk, you'll pick up useful tips! He taught me a few tricks on the wheel too. It was fun making pots with him.

éclat > sparkle

2007-07-10T03:51:00.000-07:00

“a burst of inspiration, the spark of a new beginning”

I’ve always embraced things intangible, where they cannot be perceived by the senses. They are more than just a feeling and yet an asset to be prized and an energy free to all with limitless horizon. The idea that the essence of that thought can be immortalized into a visual sensation is a thought worth exploring. Every being wants and needs to be inspired at least once in a lifetime and having new beginnings are without a doubt a part of life. The beauty of a sculpture is its 3-dimensional 360 experience, involving not just the sense of sight but touch as well. In ceramics, there is always an unglazed base to keep the sculpture or pot attaching itself to the kiln shelf, in this star shaped form, I am able to minimize the contact point with the shelf and also standardize all the pointed tip to give it uniformity throughout. This sculpture can be viewed from all angles and can be placed in any way possible that pleases the viewer. In hope that these sculptures may initiate and spark off newer thoughts with imbued ideas.
This is one of a spin-off series based on an initial concept of “Similar Differences and Different Similarities”

2007-05-09T08:16:00.000-07:00

2007-05-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

2007-05-09T07:36:00.000-07:00

2007-05-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

2007-05-06T01:37:00.000-07:00

2007-05-06T01:32:00.000-07:00

The Satyr is an interesting character to explore. Always known for playing the pan flute but I guess there is exception! :-)

2007-04-24T17:22:00.003-07:00

2007-04-24T17:22:00.001-07:00

2007-04-24T17:19:00.001-07:00

2007-04-24T17:18:00.002-07:00

Did this when I first learned to throw a "donut". This is so not ME but it was good experimentation none the less.

2007-04-24T17:18:00.001-07:00

2007-04-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

Smoke firing. Love the textures created naturally on the surface, it does resemble the nebula!

2007-04-24T17:16:00.000-07:00

My favorite pot made with my teacher and friend Neil Boughton at Fitzroy Falls. Visited him a year after 2004 Gulgong. Really good fun stoking the kiln for a few hours. Done in less than a day. My first taste of small scale wood firing for just a few pots. Great fun.

2007-04-24T17:14:00.000-07:00

2007-02-19T21:55:00.001-08:00

Title >
Figure Study

Material >
Air Dry Paper Clay

Title >
Primadonna

Material >
Rough Red Clay

Temperature >
1270º [Gas Kiln]

2007-02-19T07:29:00.000-08:00

Title >
Listen

Material >
White Clay & Red Clay

Temperature >
1250º [Gas Kiln]

2007-02-19T07:25:00.000-08:00

Title >
Tom Sawyer Today

Material >
White Paper Clay

Temperature >
1260º [Gas Kiln]

2007-02-19T07:08:00.000-08:00

Title >
Nepenthes

Material >
White Clay

Temperature >
1050º [Raku Kiln]

2007-02-19T06:50:00.000-08:00

Title >
Effervescent

Material >
White Clay

Temperature >
1260º [Gas Kiln]

2007-02-19T01:17:00.000-08:00

Title >
Eco-imbalance [Bellied Vase]

Material >
Fine White Clay

Temperature >
±1050º [Raku Drum]

2007-02-19T00:08:00.000-08:00

Title>
The Imperfect Idealism

Material>
Rough iron based clay

Temperature>
1250º [Gas Kiln > raw fired]

2007-02-18T22:44:00.000-08:00

Precious Thought

2007-02-18T21:26:00.000-08:00

The most precious and valuable traesures are often simple and close by, and only if you know how to recognise them. It is the mind who complicates and inflates matters out of proportion. If you depend entirely on your mind for understanding, then perhaps you'll fail to hear the voice of your heart. Even if you were given a gem, you'll miss it completely.

Inverted Canal

2007-02-18T19:46:00.000-08:00

The ebullient light parted a narrow streak,
bearing reflection overexposed with emotion
of space seemingly wider,
an illusion seen of jagged edges edge by time.
Muffled gaits and isolated steps
with metallic echoes of unfailing memories
soaked up and stained with age,
well immersed under streams of voices,
troubled yet calm, regressed
by the space that remained pure and void,
flowing within the heart and soul.