Philip M Soucy

I am interested in the accumulation of experiences, how repetition and layering can produce new forms through the process of making. For the past couple years, I have been exploring pace and time through layering, specifically by means of coil building out of clay, illustrating three dimensional forms which are reminiscent of the natural world.

 

It was not until very recently that I began to explore the potential of different surface treatments in conjunction with my methodology of fabrication. Coil building is a fundamental building technique which I use it to reference history, pace, materiality and form. There is a symbiosis which occurs between the clay and I once building commences; there is an understanding; there is a tremendous amount of touch involved, imprinting the bond between material and maker.

 

Once the layering of coils begins the dance begins. I am in control but allow the clay to lay on the previous coil as naturally as possible. The pace at which I work, along with the clay body play a crucial role in how the form will emerge. The understanding and kinship between me and the clay body is paramount to my process of accumulating layers of coils—interacting with and reacting to the material qualities of the clay itself.

 

I leave my coils unsmoothed, flaunting the form’s seemingly organic method of construction, yet still, maintaining its coil-built integrity, all the while brandishing its materiality.  The forms which emerge from the stacked coils speak of landscape, hillsides or mountain facades, but largely evoking the layers of sediment which occurred throughout the eons of creation.

 

© philip M Soucy