Nina Caporale
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Vessels for Collective Grieving

Made exclusively from reclaimed clay with a naturally brown tone that is enhanced in reduction atmospheres. Firing temperatures in this series range from cone 5 or 6 (midrange) to cone 10 (high fire).

I started making this body of work to focus, contain, express, and honor feelings of loss that are at once individual and collective. I am particularly concerned with the disproportionate impact of recent (or current) events to brown bodies, and to everyone with the capacity for pregnancy. I therefore chose a color palette evocative of the intersections between colorism, feminism, and environmentalism — shades of green throughout the work reference my own olive skin tone, as well as life-giving properties associated with the earth and the stereotypically feminine.


Ceramic cremation urn based on larnax coffins from antiquity, brown clay with colored underglazes and sculpted brown fingers in bas-relief.

 Larnax (2023)

Reclaim clay fired to cone 5/6 in oxidation, with colored slip, underglaze, and glaze; overdyed cotton velvet, overdyed and reclaimed linen or cotton calico, and handwoven cotton cord.  Handbuilt ceramic with slabs, sprigs, and coils.  Textiles stitched with a combination of hand- and machine-sewing. Optionally displayed with 4mil poly plastic bag, and bone ash (a glaze material) inside the burial clothes to simulate cremains.

View of interior of cremation urn based on larnax coffins from antiquity.  Includes burial cloth for remains in a brown velvet lined in reclaim linen, hand-dyed in shades of yellow, green, and brown.
Ceramic cremation urn based on larnax coffins from antiquity.  Brown clay body with colorful underglazes, seen from above and to the side on a diagonal.
 

Rib Cage(s)

This body of work is related to the fight for bodily autonomy following the Dobbs decision from the Supreme Court, effectively overturning Roe V. Wade. All works in this series are intended for sale, with proceeds being directed to organizations that help to provide access to abortion and pregnancy healthcare services.

Made exclusively from brown reclaim clay bodies. Firing temperatures in this series are limited to cone 5 or 6 (midrange), but include both oxidation and reduction atmospheres to result in a wide range of brown colors — an overt reference to brown bodies, as in: the people most likely to be adversely affected by abortion restrictions.

Abortion is healthcare.
Healthcare is a human rights issue.
Your support is appreciated.

 

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