Installations
The Work of My People highlights the transfer and adoption of ideas between different communities through an interpretation of the ceramic practice of my Beaker People ancestors from 4500 yrs ago. The Beaker People buried their dead with ceramic beakers covered with patterns that suggest family ties, positions within the tribe, and skills, and many patterns are believed to have been adopted from other peoples.
Viewers were invited to activate the work by filling a beaker with water and placing it on one of the 7 tiles - each of which had been painted with glaze in the patterns adopted by the Beaker People (but not fired). The water moved through the semi-porous earthenware and rehydrated the glaze below, transferring it to the beaker.
After the show the tiles and beakers were fired to make the transfer permanent.