Porcelain Echoes
Porcelain Echoes is a body of work that Kala developed during a six week residency (June-July 2019) in Jingdezhen, China- the porcelain capitol. The work is comprised of five collections she made while working at Menlo Studio and in the Sculpture Factory area:
Tea Tray Assemblages: Readymade tea trays available as unglazed blanks in Jingdezhen were cut, sanded, and assembled to transcend the autonomous object; referencing Chinese characters.
WaterWare: Visual interpretations portraying environmental issues regarding freshwater are expressed through images of Lake Ontario. Kala’s photograph was made into image transfers using ceramic inks, cut, and reassembled before firing onto the glazed surface.
Tea Ware: Tea cups, designed and carved by Kala were casted in the local porcelain and paired with ready made tea trays.
Decal Bricolage: Commercial decals were sourced and deconstructed. Readymade platters were resurfaced with improvisational bricolage and a gold plating process (PVD).
Archiving an Abandoned Factory: An abandoned porcelain bottle factory was a source of fascination and place of exploration. Kala sifted through thousands of found molds and made charcoal rubbings of the faces before they erode to nothing. The remaining molds in the abandoned factory are gravestones, a metaphor for the laborers now gone and the cease of production in this specific location.
