Baney Clay: An Unearthed Identity - Part 2

I started 2020 working on a project that I had first envisioned as a reflection upon the Art world, history and the power dynamics between the North and the South. The project is called Baney Clay: An Unearthed Identity, because I used clay my parents had brought me from Baney, my dad’s home village in Equatorial Guinea (GE). Inevitably, as I worked this clay dug from one of the lands I come from, my own personal story as a mixed-race woman - half Spanish, half Equatoguinean - intertwined with the narrative of the project. Moreover, the project was instrumental in my own journey of self-discovery. It helped me connect with my African roots and celebrate my mixed background.

For this second part of the project, I have used the very little clay I had left, as well as any leftovers from pieces I had made that didn’t make it to the kiln. A rebirth for the clay and myself. I am not the same woman I was last year and neither is this clay. Making with clay, as well as the discovery of the self, is a life-long endeavour of digging and unearthing; working, waiting, cracking; recycled existences and experiences, surprise, disappointment and beauty.

Similarly to the 2020 collection, these pieces are made with different mixtures of Draycott (Stoneware) and/or Porcelain and my Baney Clay. I have used the very little clay I had left - which was on show at the Gatherers exhibition last year -, recycled clay from pots that collapsed due to all the tensions between the different clay bodies and any scrapings. Nothing has been wasted.

The results I got last year were just perfect for the topics I wanted to deal with: the tensions between genders, hemispheres and identities. Tensions that materialised in cracks, which I wanted to further explore this time around. What I learnt last year was that in order for these clays to be able to work together in harmony, the Baney Clay had to be refined well, properly mixed with the other clays and in not too high percentages. Just like we, in the North, like migrations: contained and well assimilated to our cultures; and women: submissive and polite.

In an attempt to push the boundaries of these clay bodies and their interaction, I made some pieces combining all three clays without mixing them properly. The result: swirls of cracks where the Baney Clay opens to give way to the other two, mainly the porcelain.

With the aim of giving the Baney Clay the opportunity to speak for itself, this time around I also made pieces only with this clay.

Due to its lack of plasticity, the pieces are dramatically cracked: a metaphor of the Northern unquenchable desire to use and exploit Southern resources without respecting history, local traditions and the laws of nature.

Some of the cracks already appeared right after I threw these pieces. I just love how they nevertheless have held their structure and are still standing after two firings - the last one up to 1240℃. The project last year made me start thinking about and re-thinking our approach to cracks and imperfections in the world of pottery and life in general. This year’s results only reinforced the reflections I shared last summer on a piece for Plural Magazine:

‘Cracks devalue the worth of a piece. However, in this project cracks are an essential part of it. And so it should be in life, with humans. Our cracks, impurities and internal tensions define who we are and until we recognise and face them we won’t be able to overcome them and accept those of the others and successfully mix. Until then, progress will have to wait.’

You can read more about the 2020 project here.

All these pieces are part of Thrown Contemporary Summer Show at The Barn in Great Polgrain Farm in Cornwall. You can also visit the exhibition online here.

See full list of pieces with further details, measurements and prices here.