Rhian has been part of the Wales in Venice Invigilation Plus team at the Wales Pavilion at the Venice Biennale for four days now but here are her thoughts on how the experience might help her develop her work and ideas that she wrote just before leaving for this career changing experience.
In less than a week I will be in Venice. I have recently finished my degree and I’m considering whether or not that was a final resolution of an Idea – so now I wait to see what Venice will trigger.
My 3D work has remained pretty monochrome over the past 4 year, however, I have found an enjoyment in using colour in other areas of my work. I wonder how the Biennale and simply being in Venice for a month will affect my practice? I am now unsure as to whether these two separate fronts will merge. The opportunity to use colour is there and it’s also a chance to start a new idea from a new source of inspiration.
My degree show piece was an installation of Ceramic pieces coupled with line work drawings on the floor. The inspiration started with coral though as I looked at other forms in nature I realised their repetitious structures occur in all variations of life forms – in microscopic cell formations and organisms to integral plant structures. Now we as humans take inspiration from these in art, fashion and even in architecture.
There was a resistance to using colour. I felt it would make the work look less sculptural and more ornamental, as well as there being something preserved or fossil-like in the fired but unglazed clay. I think it worked for this piece though now I’m excited to see what ideas come from my time in Venice.
