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Part 2: Follow the process for creating this piece for Artist in Residence 2016
Romans 9:20-26
Artist in Residence 2016, Ebitenyefa Baralaye – Part 2
By
Ebitenyefa Baralaye
Credits:
Curated by:
Spark & Echo Arts, Artist in Residence 2016
2016
Ceramic
Primary Scripture
But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed ask him who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?”
Or hasn’t the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel for honor, and another for dishonor?
What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
and that he might make known the riches of his glory on vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory,
us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles?
As he says also in Hosea,
“I will call them ‘my people,’ which were not my people;
and her ‘beloved,’ who was not beloved.”
“It will be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
There they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”
Romans 9:20-26
Share This Art:
My second post is a continued reflection on the themes present in Romans 9:20-26. In fellowship recently I discussed with friends the understanding that ultimately everyone in the world is an eternal being with one of two destinations - in our outside of relationship with God. It could seem unfair to think that the choice of which destination one is destined for is not under individual control but controlled by the external will of God. Our good deeds and obedience fail to justify us before God for to him we are all broken vessels deserving of destruction because of sin. It is only in the person of Christ, his taking on the destruction (death as the penalty of sin) that we deserved, that broken vessels like myself, and all who confess him as Lord and Saviour, are turned into vessels for God’s use and glory. “Bam Bam” is a loose Caribbean slang term used to express trouble, exclamation or engagement in a range of carnal activities. I use it in titling this work as a general expression of humanity’s condition of brokenness and separation from God apart from Christ. The dome-shaped ceramic objects can be read as either a type of gravestone or a vessel. They are all composed of the same material with fractured seams and cracks. The difference between them is the maker’s/mover’s choice to flip and see them in one way or another.
The Process
The finalized and textured model ready for the production of a plaster press-mold.
Making a two-part plaster press-mold from the clay model. I start by preparing one side/half first, followed by the other.
The interior of the freshly made plaster press-mold. It is a negative form of my original clay model.
The finished plaster press-mold!
A layer of clay is pressed into each part of the two-part mold.
Both parts of the clay within the mold are brought and blended together.
After a little bit of drying time freshly pressed casts are removed from the mold and set out to dry.
Dry casts ready for kiln firing!
FINISHED WORK:
All materials are copyrighted by the artist and used here by permission.
Spark Notes
The Artist's Reflection
Ebitenyefa Baralaye is a ceramicist, sculptor and designer. He was born in Lagos, Nigeria, raised in Antigua and lives in the United States. Ebitenyefa received his BFA in Ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design. His studio bases have included Long Island City, Queens; the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts in New York City; and Bloomfield Hills, MI where he is currently enrolled as a Ceramics MFA candidate at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He has exhibited in various solo and group shows domestically and internationally including the 2011 Gyeonggi International Ceramix Biennale in Icheon, South Korea and the 2016 Toronto Design Festival. He has held residencies at the Peters Valley Crafts Center in Layton, NJ and most recently, Talking Dolls in Detroit, MI.
Ebitenyefa Baralaye
About the Artist
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