Shared Wisdom – Claire Weetman

6 hand-held sculptures
Gilded Jesmonite and paper boxes
3cm-5cm each.

2022

2021 was a year filled with meetings on zoom, connecting with people in a remote, distant way, and during these encounters I found myself squeezing and shaping a putty rubber – each conversation leaving a different imprint on the material. Conversation and peer support has become a big part of the work that I do at the moment, so how could I incorporate that into my practice?

A gold object, arch-shaped with the impression of a thumbprint, on a black background.

A white-skinned hand holds a golden nugget shaped object that has dimples across its surface. A square, blue paper box sits on the table, with a gold card imprinted with the words 'Shared Wisdom - keep going.'

Blocks of plasticene, each weighing 20g, were prepared and during subsequent online meetings each was moulded, smoothed, remodelled and imprinted with the trace of my fingerprints. Text from a collaborative poem created with Artists Together was stamped into each model (although the ‘m’ was missing from the set) and a silicone mould created so that an edition of the sculptures could be made.

A golden sculpture that looks like a stylised eye sits in a blue paper box. A gold square card is imprinted with the words 'Shared Wisdom - keep going'

Two gold sculptures, irregularly shaped nuggets. One sits on a blue paper box.

The moulds were poured with yellow ochre Jesmonite, then covered in gold leaf. This has been a learning process and the results are a bit sketchy, but in the spirit of the ‘Keep Going’ poem I have embraced the words within it:

Don’t be precious
Loosen up
…
Use what you’ve already got
…
Be kind to yourself
An incomplete work is still work
That’s like gold to you.

This edition of the work has been given away, as part of the Artists Together Secret Santa gifting. Its owner has been asked to re-gift the shared wisdom to others via the imperfect nuggets of gold.