Karen Aitken was the inaugural Crucible Artist Resident. This is her exhibition statement.
Ferrous and Siliceous is a collection of cast iron and ceramic pieces that explores the microscopic world of Ōamaru diatoms – single celled microfossils that lived millions of years ago and have left behind beautifully delicate glass “skeletons”. A diverse variety of diatoms are found in the Waitaki region and in my work, I have used their forms and shapes as inspiration.
Within my art practice I have been incorporating Ōamaru diatom images into ceramic pieces, using slips, oxides and glazes. Clay and glazes, like iron, are materials that are transformed by heat in a process part science and part magic.
The title ‘Ferrous and Siliceous’ refers to the ferrous iron of cast iron and the silica of ceramics and diatoms, and the way these materials communicate through my work. This exhibition is the culmination of my work with Hynds Foundation and Gillies Metaltech foundry staff to produce cast iron diatoms, using the age-old technology of sand casting. Working with Gillies has allowed me to explore the weight and scale of diatoms, contrasting the small and fragile with the large and heavy.
The exhibition highlights an exploration of place.
From the foundry, and the staff who helped cast these pieces, to the very region which formed the diatoms millions of years ago and the Victorians who first admired their delicate structures.
In a way the diatoms themselves are part of the celebrated natural history and geology of the Waitaki district and I hope through my works you can gain a sense of this place.
Here a small world becomes big and heavy.
Karen Aitken, November 2024
