M A R Y   O ' M A L L E Y

My month spent in China as an innaugural resident at the JingDeZhen Ceramic Institute's International School was intense and amazing. The weeks were packed with activity, incredible places and things to see, and the days were dense with challenges, frustration, and realizations. I found an anchor of familiarity and consistency in the generosity, patience, and humor of the people I met. I also found it interesting that in such a foreign place, similarly to the west, the use of tropical plants as decoration (particularly banana trees) was prevalent. Particularly in politics, China and the west have a tendency to demonize each other, but my experience in China negated much of my preconceptions. I wanted to create a piece which celebrated the cultural similarity that I found. 

 

This banana tree was made utilizing the local porcelain’s tendency to warp and wilt in the extremely fast and high temperature, production kiln firings particular to the porcelain city. 

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JingDeZhen is where porcelain and its production was invented, the city has been producing for over 1400 years. In the 1700's a German visited and returned to Europe to spread its production.