'HOME SELF PORTRAIT'
Home is a theme which has been really important to me and on my mind for quite a long time. Deciding what to make this month has been a big task as all the ideas and expressions I wanted to explore and create seemed just too big and too much to put into one piece at the moment. I think it is because I am adjusting to living in Australia and make this my home, while missing my home in Scotland. Over the course of this month I have done heaps of research into what people consider makes a home - such as people, identity, food, memories, sights and smells. I thought a great deal about refugees who have had to leave their homes and start their lives again in a foreign place. In Australia the topic of refugees is a very hot potato. I get really cross when people forget that refugees are real people who have endured horrific hardships and devastation. The vast majority of refugees come to Australia not to get an easy ride bur rather to make a better life for themselves and their families. Refugees aren't bad people and they deserve a lot more compassion and help in my opinion.
I discovered through researching this month's theme that there is a scheme in Australia in which you can help an asylum seeker by housing them in your home for 6 weeks.The Community Placement Network (CPN) is an initiative of the Australian Homestay Network (AHN) to offer short-term homestay accommodation to eligible asylum seekers leaving immigration detention on a Bridging visa. See the link here. I think this is a brilliant idea and already there have been lots of wonderful families opening their doors around the country and making things a bit easier for someone who needs some help. I would love to do this for someone in need.
Okay rant over, I promise!
Towards the middle of this month I realised that I was already creating an artwork based on this theme as part of a an classroom example. As part of my role as an art teacher I like to make class examples. This isn't just because it's fun, it is lots of fun, it really helps me better prepare lessons and also gives students a clear visual as to what I am talking about during class. Over the last two months my year 9/10 classes have been working on a clay project based on the Victorian 'Language of Flowers'. Last year I had read a book by this same name and I loved the idea that bouquets of flowers used to be sent as secrete, coded messages between people waiting to be read and deciphered. How fun and romantic! I took this idea of flowers being symbolic and asked the students to research and consider what plants and flowers they could use to symbolise aspects of themselves. I used my recent migration to Australia as an example and discussed the use of gum tree leaves and the national flower of Scotland, the thistle, to represent this aspect of me. I liked the idea of both the gum leaves and thistle intertwining in my hair as both are significant. Some of the students chose to look at their family heritage and some chose to focus on personality traits. It has been a really interesting project and the students put a lot of thought and effort into their ideas and final artworks. I am still firing batches of ceramic pieces at the moment and every time I open the kiln door I am delighted to see the results of the glazes.
This piece is called 'Home Self Portrait' and was made using clay, underglazes and clear gloss glaze. Hope you like it!
