I use standard garment block pattern shapes as a jumping off point. Although these shapes are used to create basic garments, they are not a direct facsimile of the body. They have their own formal reality: of lines, curves, darts, seam lines, etc. Each line has a purpose that sits in relationship to the human body, the slope of the shoulder or the curve of the waist and hip. These forms create a structural system that maps out the body whilst being utterly distinct from it: one could say that this system creates a shadow / surrogate body, or scaffold. By using ceramics, the clay bodies are reduced in size in the kiln – the transformation away from the body is irreversible: they are no longer wearable and can only be seen as sculptures.

Pictures by Anja Schori & Pauline Barbas