The Way the Earth remembers our Bodies (Material Presence) (2018)

Zoe Preece is a ceramicist who focuses on the domestic realm. Her creations invoke ordinary and human scenes in order to focus attention on what might be overlooked. Usually Preece carves plaster before moulding and casting white porcelain. In the case of this piece she collaborated with Fablab Cardiff and used 3D scanning and CNC milling to produce milled walnut for the furniture element.

The meaning of Material Presence lies in the question: ‘How do you dignify an ordinary life?’. The table defies expectations, with the remains of a meal carved – or, more correctly, CNC-milled – into its walnut surface. The choice of walnut as a material relates to the history of its value in the making of high-status furniture. This choice also puts it in dialogue with the porcelain of An Archive of Longing; collectively the two elements form a three-dimensional still life, using high-status materials to mark ordinary moments and objects, and questioning how we accord status and what aspect of our lives we most value.

The table will sit alongside another piece by Preece that Amgueddfa Cymru has already acquired - An Archive of Longing (an assemblage of unglazed porcelain objects) to complete the Material Presence work. This will return the full meaning to both works. In contrast to the precise lines and blemish-free surfaces of the porcelain forms in An Archive of Longing, where all evidence of use and making has been removed, the defining edges of the items on the table’s surface are blurred. The histories of a particular lived moment have been made solid and the table has become a monument to those ordinary moments in everyday life.

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