Fauna or Flora? - Ceramic Forms

Fauna or Flora? is an award winning outdoor ceramic sculpture.

The piece was inspired by orange peel fungi, lettuce sea slugs and coral, it was hand sculpted and modelled in a crank clay body and high fired in an electric kiln to 1260°C (Cone 8).

The piece was awarded ‘The Blarney Castle Award’ by Sir Charles Colthurst at the Blarney Castle Sculpture Trail 2016. This seven part sculpture was installed in the river at Blarney Castle & Gardens, Co. Cork for the annual Sculpture at the Castle exhibition.

Fauna or Flora? was purchased for the Blarney Castle collection in 2016.

It was originally part of the Sculpture in Context outdoor exhibition at The National Botanic Gardens in 2014.

Sold – you are interested in purchasing a similiar piece please contact me.

My inspiration

All organisms are either heterotrophic or autotrophic – that is to say that they either feed on others (are consumers) or else make their own food (are producers). Plants of course are the great autotrophs using photosynthesis to produce food.

It would seem the Elysia crispate or Lettuce sea slug didn’t get this evolutionary memo because as mature adults these molluscs instead of being consumers take chloroplasts from unsuspecting algae and are capable of carrying out photosynthesis within their bodies. When I say ‘take’ I really mean steal because no exchange actually takes place!

Inspiration from Corals of the genus Sarcophyton (common name Toadstool Corals) seen here in Flynn Reef, part of the Great Barrier Reef, near Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Image by Toby Hudson (Own work) licenced under a Creative Commons licence [CC BY-SA 3.0] (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0), via Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFolded_Coral_Flynn_Reef.jpg

Inspiration from a lettuce sea slug (Elysia crispata) photographed in the waters off of Curacao's Playa Forti. Image by LASZLO ILYES from Cleveland, Ohio, USA licenced under a Creative Commons licence [CC BY 2.0] (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ALettuce_Sea_Slug_11-03-2006.jpg

So here we have the Lettuce sea slug – not only acting like a plant but looking like one too, which got me thinking about two of my favourite sources of inspiration – coral and fungi.

Like Lettuce sea slugs most coral seem like exotic aquatic plants. Yet, despite appearances they too are in fact animals. In the same way, many would regard fungi as a plant. But fungi is so strange an organism it merits a kingdom all of its own and is considered neither plant nor animal, but poses traits of both. Leave it to Mother Nature to achieve such a dichotomy.

For me fungi, coral and even a thieving sea slug are oddly beautiful! The similarities between Lettuce sea slugs, Orange peel fungi and Lettuce corals are remarkable and if we were to purely study their form they are at times almost impossible to tell apart.

How was it made?

Fauna or Flora? is a hand-built and modelled ceramic sculpture. Each petal or bracket was modelled by hand and then joined to a background vessel. It was constructed using a grogged crank clay body and was high fired in an electric kiln to 1260°C (Cone 8).

The blue-green glaze is one I developed about 10 years ago, it combines multiple layers of glazes which at stoneware temperatures melt and ‘flux’ to create a stunning ceramic surface. This reactive glaze responds to the folded surfaces in the clay – making each piece completely unique.

Studio process. Ceramic outdoor sculpture - Fauna or Flora? by Michelle Maher. Shown here at Sculpture in Context 2014 in The National Botanic Gardens, Dublin. The piece was inspired by orange peel fungi, sea slugs and lettuce coral, it was hand sculpted and modelled in a crank clay body and high fired in an electric kiln to 1260°C (Cone 8). www.ceramicforms.com

About ‘Sculpture in Context’

Ceramic wall sculpture Synergy by Michelle Maher. Shown here at Sculpture in Context 2015 at The National Botanic Gardens. Inspired by a shoreline in the Burren, Co. Clare, Ireland. The synergy of soft & hard, water & rock, stillness & rage, light & shade is the inspiration for the piece. Hand sculpted and modelled in a crank stoneware clay & electric fired to 1260°C. www.ceramicforms.com

“As you weave your way through the garden, you will discover sculptures in the most unexpected and surprising places. Ranging in size and materials, these works of art represent the richly diverse character of Irish and International contemporary sculpture today.”

Sculpture in Context is the largest and most prestigious outdoor sculpture exhibition in Ireland. Established in 1985 by a group of sculptors, their aim was to work on behalf of fellow sculptors to provide space for exhibiting work of sculpture in venues outside of their normal gallery context.

Thirty years on and Sculpture in Context has gone from strength to strength. Since 2002, the show has made its home in the National Botanic Gardens in Dublin which is annually transformed into a living art gallery.

Artists’ ingenuity, contemporary art and Mother Nature are wonderfully combined here and as the seasons change from summer to autumn, visitors are given a reason to return again and again to see the sculptures and the garden in ever changing conditions.

Sculpture receives a spectacular presentation in the Garden, which is laid out in a variety of settings including glasshouses, ponds and foliage – winding through the 50 acres of landscaped grounds. With over 160 sculptures, this is the most exciting outdoor sculpture exhibition in Ireland.

The show runs from the first week in September to the third week in October every year.