Christine Dumont is a well known artist not only in the polymer clay community. She has been a long term polymer star and her talent of artist and dedication of tutor helped a lot of starting clayers to find their inner voice with her ongoing project Voila.
Apart of these beautiful earrings, have a look at the pendant below which is a model piece for Christine’s online course Materiality on Voila. In its primary sense, “Materiality” means "the character of matter". The course provides methods for the artist to personalise the clay, give it character and allow it to express itself.
The pendant is inspired by the Japanese textile tradition of boroboro meaning "tattered", a tradition which gives new life to old clothes by stitching or re-weaving patches of fabric together to create layered items of clothing.
In the spirit of boroboro, Christine uses established techniques and gives them a new life by transforming the clay. Then she alters its structure, imparting new texture, and new characteristics, to go "beyond the clay". The piece conveys power, is delicate but strong. Its depth seems emergent, as if through a veil, mysterious and cool. By readily conveying a multitude of emotions, the enriched clay becomes a rich vocabulary for the telling of stories.
