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Porcelain as Paper: Reticence by Clare Conway

United States-born, Ireland-based artist Clare Conway turns porcelain paper clay into gravity defying sculptures that look like real paper. The “paper” imitates personal documents concerning her relationships and are redacted and censored to protect her privacy from being judged but also showing how public and private information is quickly becoming one due to the abundance of social media platforms.

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By selectively censoring certain information, the words that remain pique curiosity in the viewer forcing them to question what was once there.

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Paper itself has no value and will decompose but by using porcelain for the project, she records the information and creates lasting documents that reflect the importance of these past relationships.

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[h/t Jonny Campbell]

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.