Description

This Guardian sculpture is a 92cm high stoneware ceramic totem (the segments are stacked on a metal stand) and the spray of wheat rising from the top of her head gives her extra height.

When I began this sculpture back in October, I wrote in my sketchbook:

“Time to put two slabs together, trim them and let the clay and my subconscious decide and work out what it’s going to be.”

A few days later, while working on the torso, I noted to myself:

“Do I just get on with it and make a multi-faceted figure? Yes and no. It’s not going to be what you think but you need to put in the hours.”

As the body and head began to form, I felt uncertain. The proportions shifted as the figure grew and I had to completely rework the head to bring it into balance, which was really fiddly to do. Around that time, I visited the architecture of La Pedrera – Casa Milà, in Barcelona, where on the rooftop I encountered the magnificent and watchful forms of the Guardians designed by Antoni Gaudí.

Seeing them gave me the confidence I needed to continue with my sculpture. That is where the title comes from.

The wheat rising from her head symbolises one of the essential staffs of life – food – and also suggests a moment of epiphany. Wheat is surprisingly expensive and difficult to find during winter. I finally sourced, stained and shaped a bundle with strong hot tea to achieve the right tone and to give it a sense of movement.

Now the warm hues of the lipstick glaze and wheat meet in quiet harmony and when I look at her, I feel she couldn’t be any other way.