‘Corona Formations’

'Corona Formations' - Sliptrailed and fused bone china.

Materials:- Bone china, sterling silver (supports) and concrete (base).
Dimensions:- w20 x d8 x h21cm. Diameter of the largest ‘Corona’ is approximately 15cm.

In 1988, I witnessed a very rare event – the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights on full display at the most southerly point in the UK that they had been sighted for many decades – Stoke-on-Trent, where on my M.A a year or so later I would encounter bone china for the first time. For me the most memorable part of the entire Aurora sequence was the pulsing beams of white light emanating outwards in a radial formation from around the edge of the very darkest of black circles created at its centre – the ‘Crown Halo’ or ‘Corona’. The image of this spectacular natural phenomenon has stayed with me and was the inspiration behind this work made especially for my Solo exhibition at the Yufuku Gallery in Tokyo, Japan in 2009.
Each ‘Corona’ formation comprises four layered radials of up to 80 tiny sliptrailed bone china spines which are then fused together in the kiln at around 1250ºC. Scroll down to see some shots of the making process.
'Corona Formation' - Detail

Click to visit my Press page and see how this image was used as the cover artwork for a CD by a Japanese electro/hip hop artist.

'Corona Formations' - On display at Yufuku Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
'Corona Formation' - Making. Clockwise from top left: Slip-trailing, 'spines' placed on alumina dusted shelf for first firing, single layer radial assembled directly on kiln shelf for fusing at 1260°C and double layered radials bedded in alumina for third firing.
A completed 'Corona Formation'
For more on how I create my works, take a look over on my Instagram feed where there are a number of posts about my making methods. Click the Instagram icon below to visit.