Grains
Hand-built paper pulp clay, hand-painted
36 cm (H) × 119 cm (circumference)

Grains is a large, rounded sculptural vessel whose generous form evokes both nourishment and protection, almost reminiscent of a mother’s belly. Its shape suggests abundance held in quiet reserve, a container not only of material sustenance, but of labour, and lineage.

The work takes its name from the vessels once used to store a family’s humble, essential objects that sustained daily life across generations. Imagined to have lived beneath the earth’s surface for centuries, its surface bears the softened traces of burial, pressure, and time. Sculpted and painted to look like stone and evoke erosion and patina, the piece feels both ancient and newly unearthed.

Lovingly hand-built from up-cycled paper pulp clay and finished by hand, the vessel holds a gentle tension between strength and tenderness.

Grains reflects on transformation and how time reshapes form, meaning, and purpose. It stands as a tribute to the unseen labour of women, to cycles of care and provision, and to the deep, enduring connection between body, earth, and vessel.