Statement

We should be sensitive to the thread of silence from which the tissue of speech is woven - Maurice Merleau-Ponty -

I am an artist working predominantly with clay materials. My current work examines how we respond to emotional experiences such as memories, loss and sense of belonging. I make abstract sculptures drawing the viewer in through a combination of familiar details with unexpected elements.

In my recent work, I have been looking at the themes of displacement and loss of continuity with one's individual and collective past.  I am particularly interested in untold stories, our invisible internal negotiations with emotions and personal history that make us who we are. In response to being interested in the invisible and untold, I am fascinated by objects or any tangible marks that bear the traces of existence and define our human identities. I am drawn into the beauty of the details, the remnants of something gone, anything that can be used to understand the silence and its many meanings.

My work tries to give form to something that was never tangible in the first place. I needed a material that would allow me to create a variety of forms in order to give a shape to emotions.  Ceramics based materials are the materials of choice for me as their fluidity and flexibility give me the freedom I need.

My approach to making is experimental, I love bric-à-brac, an organised chaos, I surround myself with a selection of objects, pieces I make and break, found objects, tin cans, sand, metal. I pick them up, mix them with wet clay, cement, plaster, metal and organic components until strange objects emerge looking more like that they have been found than made.

Having previously trained within photography and film, I draw on time, space and narrative as key elements that feed into the act of making. These elements combined with my research and a thinking through making process work together until I reach a body of work that carries an intriguing narrative and questions our emotional experiences.

Testimonials

'Anne-Laure stood out as an exceptional student on the City Lit Ceramics Diploma Course (2015-17). It was a joy to be involved in her creative journey and to watch her ideas evolve and flourish. Always receptive to the advice and observations of others, she approached her work in a spirit of exploration and discovery, deeply engaged with content of profound importance to her and tenacious in her experimentation with innovative methods and materials to find ways best to transform these thoughts into resonant works of art. The body of work that she presented for exhibition was powerfully original and personal; a testament to her commitment and singular vision.

I have no doubt that her maturity, intelligence and admirably disciplined and organised approach will continue to be a tremendous asset in any future projects in which she is involved, both personally and very much as an invaluable contributor to a  team.'

Sara Radstone - Ceramics artists - Tutor, The City Lit Ceramics Diploma Course

'Your inquisitive approach and the desire to convey ideas through new and unfamiliar ways of thinking and working produced an exciting, fresh, spontaneous, highly successful, driven by idea body of work.'

Annie Turner - ceramics artists - Tutor, The City Lit Ceramics Diploma Course

All images copyright Anne-Laure Cano.