We are pleased to announce Tip Toland (USA) as a demonstrator for the International Ceramics Festival 2015. She makes extraordinary more than life-size human sculptures: fragile creatures which have a certain vulnerability, isolation and innocence. The super-realism of her figures comes from her attention to detail and unique use of materials and techniques.
“ With a few exceptions, each figure I make is a stand- in for an aspect of me, making my work largely auto-biographical. I begin by sketching thumb nail drawings without any editing. It is when I revisit the drawings later and notice the figures which hold energy for me, that I begin to flesh them out. Many details come to the foreground as the piece evolves however the emotional/psychological make up of the character is evident from the beginning. Although they originate as an aspect of me, over the process of being made they seem to take on their own sense of self, pointing me in the direction of how they want to become. In this way I can imagine how authors initially invent a character and as more time is spent with the character, he or she begins to direct their own course in the subtle process of individuation. The most recent work I have done is a response to social political conditions in Africa. I felt compelled to make that installation, however as subject matter, that is more the exception than the rule. “