Fractured Figure
Backstory
Cyprus | 2025
This sculpture began as a reclining male figure, originally shaped in Chavant NSP—the same form I used to create Emrys. I occasionally revisit a mould, never more than five times, before destroying it. This time, instead of porcelain, I cast the piece in terracotta, giving it more thickness and weight.
It was made in Portugal, bisque fired to 900°C, then set aside. I wasn’t drawn to the terracotta colour, and for a while, the piece remained untouched—unloved and waiting.
Months later, in Cyprus, I decided to attempt a smoke firing in our traditional Kleftiko oven—usually reserved for slow-cooking local dishes. I packed it with grasses, pine cones, and citrus peels from the garden and let the fire do its work.
The result was dramatic. The figure cracked into four sections—an unexpected failure, but not without beauty. Two of the pieces—the face and the pelvis—broke cleanly. The smoke had etched them perfectly. At first, the break felt like another loss. But after reflection, I saw it differently: breakage, like smoke, reveals form in another way.
I polished the surviving fragments with wax. These are what remain—relics of process, chance, and fire.
Techniques
MEDIUM:
Chavant NSP Medium
https://chavant.com/chavant-nsp
Plaster of Paris for mould making
Terracotta
Tools (I used a few fine details tools from FormX)
https://formx.eu/tools/index.php
Wax for finishing
TECHNIQUE:
The original figure was sculpted in oil-based clay, then cast in plaster. I used the mould to press in layers of terracotta, which was allowed to dry slowly before being bisque fired at 900°C.
Months later, in Cyprus, I smoke-fired the piece in a Kleftiko oven using a mix of dried garden matter—grass, pine cones, citrus peel. The sudden shifts in temperature caused thermal shock, fracturing the sculpture into four parts.
Two fragments—the head and the pelvis—retained structural integrity and bore beautiful smoke effects. These were hand-polished with wax to enhance the surface and reveal the tonal shifts.
