Precarious Balance

Precarious Balance. 2024. Three chamotte clay ceramic eggs, glazed with proprietary formulations. Contain soil and wild plants. Left to right: 33.5 cm h × 30 cm d; 26 cm h × 24 cm d; 19 cm h × 16 cm d

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The work consists of three different hollow ceramic eggs that contain small ecosystems of wild plants. The eggs are glazed with my own formulations, made by combining oxides such as cobalt, manganese, iron, and copper to give them a rigid, dark appearance. I also carried out multiple firings and meticulously carved their shells to create a strong exterior and evoke hardness. This exterior is juxtaposed with the living beings contained inside: a fragile ecosystem attempting to survive within a hostile and violent environment.

The piece thus establishes a parallel between fragility and hardness.

It is an experimental work that raises questions, as the future of these ecosystems remains uncertain.

We cannot know in advance whether those shells will provide adequate support for the living beings to adapt. The eggs are broken and burned, and their structure does not fully protect what they contain.

It is a work that brings into focus questions about the nature of shelter:

What happens when that which is supposed to protect us breaks?

Does a broken shelter still remain a shelter?

Documentation ©Luisa Leborgne