Tattooed Rats; Active / Passive - Action / Passion.

The Self Righteous and the outcast

Painting and Sgraffito, black under-glaze colour, fired to 1240 degree Celsius. 180mm length x 130mm height

A small gallery of selected works from my last exhibition. The chosen pieces, showcasing the diverse range of tattooed rats (realised in different ceramic techniques and processes), were professionally photographed in a studio with proper lighting. What a difference it makes.

The Pansy and the Roses

Colour transfers, gold and platinum lustre, fired to 1120 degree Celsius. 190mm length x 140mm height

The Queen in the face of hell

Painting and Sgraffito, various under-glaze colours, fired to 1240 degree Celsius. 180mm length x 130mm height

Crafty Rats

Painting and Sgraffito, black and brown under-glaze colour, fired to 1240 degree Celsius. 180mm length x 130mm height

The Cardinal and the queer

Colour and black transfers, gold and platinum lustre, fired to 1120 degree Celsius. 190mm length x 140mm height.

The Pansy and the Self Righteous

Painting and Sgraffito, various under-glaze colours, fired to 1240 degree Celsius. 180mm length x 130mm height

Exquisite Slave : Popsy : Popsie

Exquisite Slave, Popsy, Popsie. (front above and back below) Earthenware fired, slip cast Ceramic sculpture with ceramic decals and gold lustre.


We are all criminals in here and if I say you are a criminal that means I respect you. But if you have (had) sex (done to you) it's obvious that they will (see) you differently. Even the criminal in you is now gone and you are now a "wyfie" (someones wife). There is nothing we can do for (a person who has been raped) and we don't care.

If I allow myself to become a lady, I am going to be a "wyfie" until I finish my sentence. That's definitely sure and that's the truth. Even if I can be transferred to (an) other prison the guys there will know that where I come from, I was so-and-so's "wyfie" (wife) and will make sure that I become a wife there. Two quotes from prisoners as captured in a South African correctional services report on rape and violence in our prisons.

This sculpture comments on rape and violence in South African prisons - especially the impact it has on the inmate's masculinity. Sex is never discussed or even spoken about and when it is mentioned, it is referred to as "Daai Ding" (that thing) in Afrikaans. Attractive young men that commit a crime and get sent to prison will have to defend their masculinity by stabbing a warden or another inmate, if they don't, they will require protection and through subtle favours will become someones wife / "wyfie". Should they refuse, they could be raped and then their masculinity and respect as a criminal is gone forever anyway. One cannot imagine how it really affects such inmates, especially when they return home to their real wives and kids on release from prison.






















Exquisite Slave : Popsy : Popsie. (Detail of base) Earthenware fired, slip cast Ceramic sculpture with ceramic decals and gold lustre.

Porcelain hand built sketch.

Encounter. (Feb.09) 170x140x50 mm. Hand built porcelain piece. I have not hand built with porcelain for about 13 years. I decided to make work whilst teaching ceramic practice to the second years. They had to explore plasticity and rigidity; a project brief, introducing them to hand building. Working with slabs and modeling organic and related material, they had to create a piece that demonstrated the diverse properties of clay. Appropriate surfaces had to be developed (mainly textures) to compliment the two contrasting themes. I took the images of the piece, with my cell phone, when it came out of the kiln this morning. I gave a talk at Ceramics SA's AGM. Everyone there enjoyed the work, I therefore decided to post it on my blog. Below is a detail of the fish perturbed by the impending doom on the surface - a Hokusai inspired Wave's encounter with a shark. The same wave appears in two dimensions (ballpoint pen drawing) as a decal / transfer on the paper boats in the to be continued post below.


















Encounter (Detail)