I have made bones, ribs that hold feelings, pointing and holding through space in ancient iron. They are heavy, and the moment of their melting is no longer visible. The moment of change and flow is fleeting, precious; we grasp it with courage or watch it pass us by.
Exhibition Statement by Crucible Artist Resident Siân Quennell Torrington, November 2024
To transform is to move from one state to another. And what is in between? Heat. Fire. Flow. Change is unpredictable, and we need to be held while the sparks fly and we melt to become something new. The process of making this work has taught me about the structures that hold wild heat, so that metal can melt, be poured, and become new. These pieces have been created in sand, holding molten iron that is a pink, orange, red, liquid and living colour.
I have made bones, ribs that hold feelings, pointing and holding through space in ancient iron. They are heavy, and the moment of their melting is no longer visible. The moment of change and flow is fleeting, precious; we grasp it with courage or watch it pass us by.
Heat and passion, moments of feeling and challenge, are when we change. And yet these moments are ones we are often judged for, asked to hide. Hold it in. She ran Hot celebrates these feelings, and us as crucibles of experience, full of potential for transformation. The pieces of us are suspended, balanced and held in this configuration, this moment.
The title comes from a conversation with Peter MacDonald, who has worked here with fire for 36 years. He poured my pieces with such care, and knew just how hot the metal needed to run, to flow into all those difficult places.
