Spikes, Interlocked Rings, and Daring Bulges Sprout from Megan Bogonovich’s Otherworldly Ceramic Botanicals

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  • May 18.

All photos © Megan Bogonich, courtesy of Kishka Gallery & Library, shared with permission

“There’s a tree on my street that has been reduce very surprisingly to accommodate an influence line, and I take into consideration that tree lots,” says Megan Bogonovich, who envisions the otherworldly potential of human contact on the setting by way of playful, botanical sculptures.

Based mostly in Norwich, Vermont, Bogonovich acknowledges nature’s immense functionality for adaptation and energy in seemingly inhospitable areas. “The entire dandelion rising out of a pavement crack factor,” she says. Her works embody transformation and ample development, and weird colours, shapes, and textures come up in surreal mixtures. With bulbous bases, spiked protrusions, and interlocked petals, the works think about “the batty prospects of what might be rising within the universe or what could be the very first thing to sprout up after an environmental catastrophe.”

Rooted in play and the “ceaseless goofiness” of copy, the sculptures evolve all through a prolonged course of. Bogonovich begins by hand-building small geometric and natural varieties like cones, tubes, ovoids, and textured patches made with drilled holes, cuts, and on a regular basis objects like buttons, which she then casts in plaster to make a mould. “If I forged 30 molds someday, by the following day I’ve a set of slip-cast tinkertoy-type elements that I can alter and bend or duplicate. It’s quite a lot of labored build-up to get to a degree the place I can work spontaneously and impulsively with a fabric that will in any other case need planning,” she says. 

 

These malleable varieties are then fired and readied for glazing, a sluggish, meticulous course of that includes a number of layers and bouts within the kiln at various temperatures. “The sculptures are matte white once they first come out of the kiln. I let quite a lot of items construct up earlier than I begin glazing,” Bogonovich says. “I get used to being surrounded by ghost flowers, so when the tide adjustments to paint it seems like an enormous shift within the studio.” Like nature, glazing is unpredictable, and the pastel pinks, daring oranges, and mottled hues add a whimsical, playful aspect to the works. “I stay within the woods in Vermont, and right now of yr, there may be a lot inexperienced. It’s good to think about vibrant yellow tree trunks or scorching pink maple leaves,” she says. 

Bogonovich works with Kishka Gallery & Library, the place she not too long ago held a solo present, and has sculptures on view by way of Could 20 at SPRING/BREAK Artwork Present in New York. Discover extra of her items on her web site and Instagram.

 

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