“People say that a woman’s hips are shaped like a vase… I take a vase and with it I make a woman.” Picasso.

The male gaze takes for granted that vessels express a feminine form, existing solely to be filled; either literally by impregnation, or metaphorically by the emotions of others and expectations of society.

I was inspired by the Venus Flower Basket glass sponge as a way to distance the vessel form from the stereotypical feminine shape and to also represent the “soaking up” of these emotions and expectations by women.

The work also acts as a response to the historical and current events of men’s violence against women by using a combination of glazes “bruising” the outside of the forms.

Sponges 2021.

Coiled stonewear forms with a glaze “bruise”