Latest Artworks including Work in Progress
RCA Projects - YEARS (2023-24)
'If the women do not give permission the men cannot go to war'. This is a quote from an academic paper about the Iroquois Six Nation Matriarchal federation. The words hit me like a boxing fist in on my aortic breast. Protean and ancient matriarchy now forms the backbone of my practice led research. Always, always drawing the amorphous ageing matriarch, it is my own ageing that gauges my lens and comprehension of the patriarchal destruction of the world today. I made the bronze torso above at the turn of the millennium, it was a homage to my own motherhood and mothering. In 2023 I I blasted it with a naked propane flame - in the process setting of the Royal College of Art fire alarm! - intuitively melting and smelting the piece. The more it deconstructs the more I associate it with global warming and the patriarchal commodification of Gaia. It may be this sculpture is reduced to a blob of bronze, out of which rises the protean matriarchal form. I don't know, but the creating and destruction of an artwork is a fiercely engaging process. I'm thinking of it as a performance. I have many works to destroy.
BRONZE VENUS UNDONE (2000/2023)
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PROTEAN VENUS PROTESTING (2023)
PROTEAN VENUS PROTESTING (2023)
RECLAIMING PROTEAN VENUS (2023)
Porcelain, Wax, Stain,
RECLAIMING PROTEAN VENUS (2023)
Porcelain, Wax, Stain, Wire, 38 cm x 34 x 35 cm
WINTER SWADDLE (2023)
VENUS RETROGRADE (2023)
Single Sheet of Hand Beaten Tin Plated Steel, Copper Wire, 68 cm x 41 x 34 cm
B R E A T H (2023) Metal and Air 120 cm x 90 cm x 100 cm
B R E A T H is a free standing piece secured only at the feet. First day of exploring metal in the RCA Metal Workshop, a medium I've always been afraid of - only to realise it is perfect for my long standing obsession with elevation towards levitation. The piece is welded to the plates in only two places, the rest of the figure is self-balancing. What excites me is navigating the 'wobble', the entire piece shivering with borrowed uprightness. Makes me think of the gift of human uprightness, and the power of the breath to elevate and rise up against gravity. Next comes a very ambitious project...
Picture
SISYPHUS I: Porcelain & Florescent Light (work in progress) 80 cm x 70 cm x 70 cm
Sisyphus is part of my Proto-Matriarchy Project. Using fine china porcelain this giant egg form speaks to Homer's and Camus' Sisyphus. It is known yet whether the piece will make it to the kiln or survive the firing, but should it, the boulder will be raised by two matriarchs. When I think of Sisyphus repeatedly rolling the boulder up the hill only to let it roll back down again, I do not think of futility, I do not think of absurdity, I wonder about the agency of the boulder and what is gained, what is served by ritual, what receives? What I see is an exchange with no beginning or end...
UNREST (2023) Porcelain Maquettes 16 cm x 12 cm 9 cm
Working on a porcelain maquettes of proto- matriarchs for enlargement using styrofoam and plaster. Read an incredible paper today that could have been an AI scrape of my hard drive but wasn’t which makes me think our dream time is no longer private. This triptych is of my boulder women inside which is every dream, thought, and AI iteration ever been and possible. That’s the magic of rocks and Time.
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Quick studies of matriarch figures in porcelain. Currently unfired while I create the further 100 pieces. This is part of a multiple installation relating to my Gates of Hope project. Not sure whether they will be cast in bronze or left in the rough. What I'm searching for is life force within the ageing distorted body weathered by eons of Time. I want to locate the intersection of breath that elevates and gravity that collapses. Not unlike dying stars and black holes.
PROMETHEUS Porcelain and Terracotta. I never destroy my broken or failed work knowing that it will call to me at some point. A practice decision that challenges the scarcity of space that houseboat dwelling brings! This portrait lay amongst the bushes for several months before I submerged it in my reclaim porcelain bin churned to slip by the rain. After drying in the clement sunshine he is returned to the bushes...
YEARS (2021-22)
As a sculptor of clay and bronze figures I recently decided to experiment with hollow fireable sculptures and ceramic artworks, working out of my home studio and Studio Pottery London. I presently work with several unique techniques. As an artist and philosopher I’m obsessed with experiential elevation and the metaphysics of levitation and anti-gravity. Each single piece vessel and sculpture is held in the air until gravity has completed her work, sometimes holding up my arm for as long as an hour. Resisting direct modelling techniques I invite the clay to 'fall' and 'drop' into the form. Each horse head is created in this way with the clay finding the flesh. From beginning to end the process is a meditation. The greater the stretch of the clay the greater the luminosity and Limoges Porcelain, even thick works, is evocatively light reflective.
The intersection of abstraction and Rodin-esque high-stylization creates an unsettling atmosphere of the decorative and decayed.
Plaster Works in Progress (2022)
Ignatius (2022)
Camargue Mare (2022)
Weeping Angel (2022)
Gaia Horse: Porcelain & Glaze (2022)
Gaia Horse is a large hand built hollow porcelain sculpture of a horse, glazed, and high fired. The artwork is inspired by satellite images of planet Earth from outer space and the relentless loyal presence of the domesticated horse. The greater ocean blue-greens of the glaze englobe the lesser darker land regions spotted here and there, expressing the vulnerable equilibrium of the planets elements and resources and inter-species relations.
Gaia Horse embodies the emergence and re-emergence of the horse spirit throughout Gaia's evolution. Gaia horse is powerful, fearless, eternal. Gaia Horse is the ever-lasting friend and ally of humans. The head is H: 38 cm W: 52 cm D: 22 cm and weighs 16 kg.
EXHIBITING AT THE GREEN AND STONE SUMMER EXHIBITION, LONDON - 26TH JULY - SEPTEMBER 2022
Tomorrow (2022)
Part of my climate change project. Rapidly created to capture urgency. The piece combines withering charred forests and the gesture carrion eating vulture. Tomorrow is a call from the future for action today.. Vulcan Stoneware & Black Iron Oxide.
Four Madonnas (2021)
Dreaming Horse (2022)
These terracotta works experiment with organic pigment and textures created by fired earth. Inspiration comes from the cave drawings of prehistoric Lascaux and Chauvet Caves in France and the red dust of Death Valley in America. Through the horse form I'm nesting temperature and grain, placing earth upon earth upon Earth, . These works are 15 - 25 cm tall maquettes are studies for larger sculptures and installation examining paradoxical fire that agitates, fuses and petrifies material and biological form..
The Goat that Walked from India (2022)
Jumper (2022)
Apples! (2022) SOLD
Han Duet: Crank Stoneware & Glaze (2021)
These heads are inspired by the Han Dynasty Terracotta Heads (206 BC - 220 BC). The original heads are small and today heavily eroded. My aim was to pay homage to the ancient warrior aesthetic and experiment with different glaze finishes. The heads are H 37 W 37 D 16 cm and come as a pair.
ARCTIC GHOST: Porcelain (Bisque Blanc)
This smaller figurative horse head is Vulcan Black Porcelain and Limoges White Porcelain Slip bisque fired to 1000 degrees. Arctic Ghost is inspired by the preserved creatures and bodies by Great Ice Age, This piece represents the cracking glaciers, collapsing snow breaks, and forward motion of Time. With dinosaur tones, Arctic Ghost is both fallen and falling, caught in continuous and prevailing falling. This artwork intersects climate change and eternal belonging. The head is H 9.5 cm W 29 cm D 9 cm (without wood stand).
Against Time: Studio Crank and Iron Oxide
This studio maquette was modeled by hand in one session. Responding sensuously to the warmth of the hands stoneware crank is an exquisite medium for rapid 3D sketching. My aim was to capture forward movement like a pointed arrow slicing through time, like a galloping horse chasing the wind. A strong solution of black iron oxide was applied and highlighted using a sponge. The final effect adds fire to the energy and free spirit portrayed. The alchemy of these two ingredients take my breath.
THIS ARTWORK IS NOW ACQUIRED.
THIS ARTWORK IS NOW ACQUIRED.
Oracle Horse: Limoges Porcelain & Transparent Glaze
Oracle of Horse: Limoges Porcelain & Transparent Glaze (H 20 W 40 D 16)
Oracle of Horse: side view.
This large piece was created first by rapid hand-building and 'holding' then left to dry for until the texture of bone and alabaster. I completed the work with a range of rasps and sponges, leaving in tact naturally occurring cracks and crevices. Further chips occurred prior to firing, all of which enhance the fractured subtle presence of this piece. The cavity of the hollow skull eye is both dead and alive, inviting an unsettling response deep within the body. This artwork is an invitation to telepathy, to intuition, to listening to Nature's voice.
This artwork is now available and may be mounted on charred wood or be placed as a free-standing artwork.
This artwork is now available and may be mounted on charred wood or be placed as a free-standing artwork.
Hippocampus (Studio Crank & Glaze)
My largest hollow work to date. Typically a work of this scale would be modelled solid then cast in bronze or plaster. Getting to grips with the hollow free-standing form of this scale has been an intuitive quest of immense satisfaction. Every stage of the process is precious to me, but without attachment to the outcome. I love and embrace fragility and seek to coax forth the shy emergent form. Cracks and breaks are integral to the works, reflecting the beauty and entropy of life.
Disaster or Serendipity? I say the latter. One third of this large head exploded free in the kiln, leaving a wonderful 'C' neck line. This artwork started its life as Hippocampus, Latin for Sea Horse,
THIS ARTWORK IS NOW ACQUIRED.
Disaster or Serendipity? I say the latter. One third of this large head exploded free in the kiln, leaving a wonderful 'C' neck line. This artwork started its life as Hippocampus, Latin for Sea Horse,
THIS ARTWORK IS NOW ACQUIRED.
Ariel I: Limoges Porcelain (Bisque Blanc)
Ariel I: Limoges Porcelain - Bisque Blanc
Ariel I is my homage to Sylvia Plath's exquisite poem that glimpses the passion she experienced during one early morning ride. Ariel rides beyond death into the realms of dreams. Ariel speaks to the artist spirit, guides the voyager and intuitionist. Ariel here, began as a lightly thrown shape immediately folded into the form that it is today and held in my hands, receiving very little further modelling other than the ears and detail of the mane and forelock. This work is the product of a spontaneous emergence with the form finding the flesh. After considering glazing the work, I've settled on the bisque blanc.
Size is H 29 D 9 W 26 (approx). This artwork is now available AS A LIMITED EDITION. SEE MY INSTAGRAM @Margot_Wilson_Art
Size is H 29 D 9 W 26 (approx). This artwork is now available AS A LIMITED EDITION. SEE MY INSTAGRAM @Margot_Wilson_Art
I think of Ariel as a 'one touch' emergence, somehow further fettling and fussing would spoil the integrity of its powerful vulnerability.
SPIRIT OF THE HERD
The Watcher (2021) - Stoneware - Bisque & Smoke Fired on Charred Wood
My work is the intersection of where spirit meets the world expressed through the form of the horse skull. Precisely where the sockets of the eyes meet the plains of the cheeks can invite a response of courage or fear. Titled ‘Leader’, this piece delineates the emergence of spirit through the unyielding bone form. I believe the contours of the skull is the essential spirit’s claim to life, existing as expansion and contraction, fight and flight, give and receive.
The Watcher, Brothers and Sisters are finalists in the Art & Cavallo Competition and will be exhibiting at Fiera Cavalli, Verona, Italy from 4th - 14th November. The artworks can be viewed and acquired via Amsterdam's leading Equestrian Art Gallery, Paard Verzameld.
The Watcher, Brothers and Sisters are finalists in the Art & Cavallo Competition and will be exhibiting at Fiera Cavalli, Verona, Italy from 4th - 14th November. The artworks can be viewed and acquired via Amsterdam's leading Equestrian Art Gallery, Paard Verzameld.
ORACLES OF NATURE
The word 'oneiric' means 'dream' and 'to dream'. The horse both leads and follows, gives and receives, transmits belonging, acceptance, invites courage and a return to playfulness, nudges us in our dreams towards our fulfillment. To see a horse in a dream depicts spiritual growth. To be seen by a horse, is spiritual growth. The following series continues on from my clay and bronze sculptures (1998-2006). I am experimenting with the fragility and powerful durability of fired porcelain as the cavity of the skull. Not all will survive the process of firing, the journey is fulfilled in the gratitude of the process.
Oneiric Cavities (2021)
Oneirics I: Essence Lies Beyond the Flesh (2021) - SISTERS
The sculptural porcelain figure above is the first of a series of exploring the cavities and orifices of the skull as portals of consciousness. The objects are minimally formed, drawing into focus the moment at which an inert form transmutes into an animate one. The pieces are block carved porcelain and buffed from bone dry then fired to bisque. The figure above is titled 'Oneirics I: Essence Lies Beyond the Flesh (2021)' and gestures to the telepathic relationship between human and horse. Presently bone dry greenware and due to be bisque fired. Approximately 23 cm x 8 cm x 6 cm.
The sculptural porcelain figure above is the first of a series of exploring the cavities and orifices of the skull as portals of consciousness. The objects are minimally formed, drawing into focus the moment at which an inert form transmutes into an animate one. The pieces are block carved porcelain and buffed from bone dry then fired to bisque. The figure above is titled 'Oneirics I: Essence Lies Beyond the Flesh (2021)' and gestures to the telepathic relationship between human and horse. Presently bone dry greenware and due to be bisque fired. Approximately 23 cm x 8 cm x 6 cm.
Block modeled and carved from a single section of porcelain, this ensemble piece dramatize the unspoken exchange of wisdom between human and horse. Both the aesthetic and essence of the Equus species speak to this piece, the feeling of connection, the forgiving presence, the holder of the all knowing center that invites us to sit with. Finalist in Art & Cavallo 2021. Approximately 28 cm x 13 cm x 13 cm.
Brothers - Onyx Porcelain - Bisque & Smoke Fired on Charred Wood
This piece is about unspoken internal herd tensions, the claiming and holding of one’s space as the structure of presence. The structure of the eye and angle of heads gesture to confidence and power. In this piece, there is a holding of the breath and a suspension of space where confidence and hope quiver. Possessing a magical fusion of courage and empathy, the horse is for me the 8th wonder of the world. L 32 x D 18 x H 40 cm
Earlier Works
Oneirics III: Discernment (2021)
If the appearance of a horse in a dream represents spiritual growth, the hare represents intuition, rejuvenation and resurrection. Through these minimalist abstractions of the bone structure of the skull we can explore our own relationship with being and consciousness, and the liminality of our truth. I add to these the power of discernment, the ability to consider and choose wisely, when to speak and when to be silent, when to move with swift conviction and when to pause, hover, wait, observe, become invisible to one and visible to all. Presently bone dry greenware and due to be bisque fired. Approximately 11 cm x 7 cm x 6 cm.
If the appearance of a horse in a dream represents spiritual growth, the hare represents intuition, rejuvenation and resurrection. Through these minimalist abstractions of the bone structure of the skull we can explore our own relationship with being and consciousness, and the liminality of our truth. I add to these the power of discernment, the ability to consider and choose wisely, when to speak and when to be silent, when to move with swift conviction and when to pause, hover, wait, observe, become invisible to one and visible to all. Presently bone dry greenware and due to be bisque fired. Approximately 11 cm x 7 cm x 6 cm.
Oneirics IV: Silent Service (2021)
This piece was created as an armature to support other newly modeled porcelain heads while drying. Once it had served its purpose it was set aside only to gaze at me from the other side of an invisible field gate. waiting for just acknowledgment. That which serves rarely is seen. Formed of the same material as the other sculptures, the only difference between the others and this one is the intention behind its creation. Presently bone dry greenware and in the spirit of its creation will be used for further experimentation in sculpture and smoke firing. Approximately 24 cm x 10 cm x 4 cm.
This piece was created as an armature to support other newly modeled porcelain heads while drying. Once it had served its purpose it was set aside only to gaze at me from the other side of an invisible field gate. waiting for just acknowledgment. That which serves rarely is seen. Formed of the same material as the other sculptures, the only difference between the others and this one is the intention behind its creation. Presently bone dry greenware and in the spirit of its creation will be used for further experimentation in sculpture and smoke firing. Approximately 24 cm x 10 cm x 4 cm.
Oneirics VI: Ghost (2021)
A simple flat cut off section of porcelain that invited and 'eye' and mediated a ghostly presence. This piece is smoke-fired greenware 26 cm x 9 cm x 2 cm.
A simple flat cut off section of porcelain that invited and 'eye' and mediated a ghostly presence. This piece is smoke-fired greenware 26 cm x 9 cm x 2 cm.
