Nuala O'Donovan

My work combines regular pattern with the characteristics of irregular patterns and forms from nature. Each element of the pattern is individually made, the form is constructed slowly over a period of weeks or months, and fired a number of times during the making process.
The finished forms are a result of an intuitive response to the direction that the pattern takes as well as the irregularity in the handmade elements of the pattern. I have used the characteristics of irregular/fractal patterns in nature as a system of constraints when making decisions about the forms.
My decision to research patterns and forms from nature stemmed from my interest in the narrative quality of irregularities in natural forms. The story behind a scarred or broken surface is what fascinates me, and the evidence of the ability of living organisms to recover and continue growing and changing. It is the imperfections and the unique experiences evident in them that indicate the life force in living organisms.


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