Tephra

A relic from the future thrives in the ashes.

Born out of white-hot flames, the stone-like, otherworldy form glares through the darkness. Firm yet delicate, the matter, once full of life, is fossilised in a baffling assemblage of the known and the uncanny.

Drawing their name from the geological term indicating the petrified fragments spat from volcanoes, the objects from the Tephra series are crafted using hand-picked, specially treated flowers mounted on sculptural forms made of metal and jute. Metallised using a thermo-coating technique that covers the dense textures in a paper-thin layer of molten metal, the structures preserve the eternal blossom in an almost Pompeiian effect of silhouettes covered in volcanic debris.

The vertical forms of the Tephra Vases come from the study of plants’ anatomy and refer to their reproductive parts: ovaries and stigmas, anthers and their filaments, seeds and pollen, revealing unexpected complexity of botanic form and symbolising nature’s creativity.

Cultivated rather than applied, the plants grown on the surface of the Tephra Vase Raw serve as proof of concept. Negotiating the status between a man-made, controlled form and the aleatory, natural process, the sculpture becomes alive with possibilities, dependent on how we, its custodians, want to nurture it.

The sewing, bending and welding interlaced with the sublime fragility of flowers are blended, and in fact muted, by the rigidity of the industrial metallisation process. Cocooned by streams of liquified metal and finished by hand to achieve a polished or matte texture, the sculptures, reminiscent of monochrome bas-reliefs, establish a new field of exploration for the studio.