The good news? We have all passed the third semester of the diploma. The less good news? none of us know how we actually did yet! This makes decisions about the final semester a little harder since none of us are completely sure which were our strongest pieces, although I think many of us have a fair idea. The thing is, this is IT! We are now embarking on the last leg. By the end of this semester the expectation is that we will know what kind of maker we are and will have a clear direction for the future – there is a first time for everything I suppose!
Day one of the last semester was spent talking about our successes and failures. One of the things about being a very experimental maker is that there are plenty of the latter and a few surprises which count among the former. It seems that my most successful piece of the last semester was a block which was made as a bit of an after thought. It came out of the kiln on the day of the assessment, was intended as a plinth for another work and became a work in its own right 20 minutes before the assessment began! It is so different to much of my previous work and yet it seems to have sent everyone into ecstasies! So what now? Should I go with fragile? Should I stick to gunge? Or are they, in fact two sides of the same coin? The more I think about it all my work is a kind of duality – a conflict between order and disorder, discipline and kicking over the traces, fragility and robustness. So perhaps there is room for both my previous fragile work and this more recent rough, tough, layered approach. I suppose it is all a bit of a balancing act really and maybe I do know where I am going, I just need to open myself to trying anything and everything for little while longer, think less, make more and see what happens. At any event I fully intend to enjoy this last semester – because after this, I really will be on my own!
Bridget Macklin 