Rachael Marne Jones - Artaxis.org

Rachael Marne Jones - "Into The Thick of it (What you thought you saw, what you though you knew)."
2022, "18x40x26", Media: Colored porcelain, Mixed Media, Wild Clay/Raw Clay, Firing Process: Electric, Surface: Unglazed
Porcelain, mason stain, post-consumer glaze/underglaze conglomerate material, sink sludge & plexiglass.

birds eye view of installation where porcelain grass are growing up from a bed of post consumer studio material. Looking closely, one might notice the faint track of a rattlesnake winding through the grass. As the material dries, large cracks pierce the surface, revealing layers of rainbow colors embedded in the layers.

Rachael Marne Jones - "Into The Thick of It (What you thought you saw, what you thought you knew)"
2022, "18x40x26", Media: Colored porcelain, Mixed Media, Non-clay, Wild Clay/Raw Clay, Firing Process: Electric, Surface: Unglazed
Porcelain, mason stains, plexi glass, glaze/underglaze waste conglomerate material & sink sludge. (Detail of tracks left behind)

An alter is constructed from three cow scapulas tipped up and leaning into a pyramid shape, with a birds nest made of bent cow ribs and porcelain grass perched on top. Inside the nest, the skull, furcula (wishbone), and leg bones rest. The piece is sitting on a light wood pedestal in a white walled gallery with grey floors.

Rachael Marne Jones - "LandMark Series: No. 4- An Offering."
2021, "10x10x14", Media: Porcelain, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Unglazed
Slipcast porcelain & Glaze.

An altar comprised of slipcast porcelain bones sits atop a light wooden pedestal. In focus, is the top of the altar, where a birds nest is made from bent white porcelain bones and porcelain grass. Inside the nest lies the skull, furcula and leg bones of a bird.

Rachael Marne Jones - "Landmark Series: No. 4- An offering (detail)"
2021, "10x10x14", Media: Porcelain, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Unglazed
Slipcast porcelain & Glaze.

Rachael Marne Jones - "Seed Collector Series: No. 2 Wild Leek"
2022, "10x10x14", Media: Mixed Media, Non-clay, Porcelain, Stoneware, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Unglazed
Slip cast porcelain & hand built iron stoneware & post-consumer glaze/underglaze/clay/sink sludge conglomerate material, plant matter & kanthal wire.

A sculptural Vessel made for seed drying and saving. Comprised of a deep iron rich clay basin embedded in marbled clay and postconsumer glaze waste material, that is propped up on 3 mushroom like feat. The feat extend past the lip of the basin, and support three slip cast, white porcelain bones that are bound together at the top with leather lattice work, which allows the Anise Hyssops to dangle freely, dry and release its seeds into the basin. A little pour spout directs the seeds when ready to gather and deposit into a container for safe storage.

Rachael Marne Jones - "Seed Collector Series: No. 1 Anise Hyssops"
2022, "8x8x15", Media: Non-clay, Porcelain, Stoneware, Wild Clay/Raw Clay, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Surface: Unglazed
Slip cast and hand built porcelain, iron stoneware, marbled reclaimed clay & post consumer glaze/underglaze conglomerate material and sink sludge, leather, glass & Plant matter.

Rachael Marne Jones - "Razor Wings."
2021, "4x16x21", Media: Porcelain, Firing Process: Electric, Oxidation, Surface: Glazed
Slip cast Porcelaneous stoneware, glaze, underglaze and reclaimed glass.

This is a sculptural diagram of the bisection of the MT Granite Design Seed Bank. It exhibits the double walled, inner seed capsule that helps to regulate the seed's temperature (which should stay around 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit when buried below permafrost). The Seed Bank Project is a multi-era, multi-disciplinary project meant to span decades, cultures and (hopefully) climate phenomena here on planet earth. Hand-made, double-walled porcelain seed vessels are given out to collaborators, who then fill them with seeds that have precious ecological and culturalsignificance to the region in which they call home. The banks are completely autonomous from human maintenance, meaning theyare specifically designed to control the interior seed capsule’s humidity, light and temperature when buried below permafrostutilizing both ancient and modern technologies. The screw top cap is sealed with beeswax to ensure no moisture or light can reach the seeds. This sustains the seed’s ability to stay viable for as long as its’ DNA will allow.

Rachael Marne Jones - "Seed Bank Diagram Bisection (MT Granite Design)"
2018, "5.5x6.5x9", Media: Mixed Media, Porcelain, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Oxidation, Surface: Unglazed
This is a sculptural diagram of the bisection of the MT Granite Design Seed Bank. It exhibits the double walled, inner seed capsule that helps to regulate the seed's temperature (which should stay around 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit when buried below permafrost). The Seed Bank Project is a multi-era, multi-disciplinary project meant to span decades, cultures and (hopefully) climate phenomena here on planet earth. Hand-made, double-walled porcelain seed vessels are given out to collaborators, who then fill them with seeds that have precious ecological and cultural significance to the region in which they call home. The banks are completely autonomous from human maintenance, meaning they are specifically designed to control the interior seed capsule’s humidity, light and temperature when buried below permafrost utilizing both ancient and modern technologies. The screw top cap is sealed with beeswax to ensure no moisture or light can reach the seeds. This sustains the seed’s ability to stay viable for as long as its’ DNA will allow.

Plastiglomerate No. 1 (Origin Story) is part of my new sculptural series titled, "New Geology". This series dives deep into the implications of humankind's utilization, and normalization of the fossil fuel industry, in particular, how it has manifested itself in the objects we use every day. As more and more plastic arrives on beaches across the planet, we struggle with how to dispose of the predisposed. Many communities have resorted to burning the plastics right on the beach, resulting in a fascinating new conglomerate material composed of melted plastics, sand, seashells, seaweed, driftwood and other detritus known as plastiglomerate. As plastics go through a "quick time" metamorphosis, they begin to resemble the geologic processes that reclaim earth's elemental building blocks. These lil ducks embedded in "Plastiglomerate No. 1 (Origin Story) are a nod to the “Moby-Duck” event in 1992, when a shipping container slid off a cargo ship, spilling 28,800 bath toys into the sea. Although an ecological disaster, it is interesting how this mishap actually helped oceanographers model ocean currents, with more specimens to track then ever release before in the name of science (albeit accidentally).

Rachael Marne Jones - "Plastiglomerate No. 1 (Origin Story)"
2020, "20x8x19.5", Media: Colored porcelain, Porcelain, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Surface: Glazed, Unglazed
Plastiglomerate No. 1 (Origin Story) is part of my new sculptural series titled, "New Geology". This series dives deep into the implications of humankind's utilization, and normalization of the fossil fuel industry, in particular, how it has manifested itself in the objects we use every day. As more and more plastic arrives on beaches across the planet, we struggle with how to dispose of the predisposed. Many communities have resorted to burning the plastics right on the beach, resulting in a fascinating new conglomerate material composed of melted plastics, sand, seashells, seaweed, driftwood and other detritus known as plastiglomerate. As plastics go through a "quick time" metamorphosis, they begin to resemble the geologic processes that reclaim earth's elemental building blocks. These lil ducks embedded in "Plastiglomerate No. 1 (Origin Story) are a nod to the “Moby-Duck” event in 1992, when a shipping container slid off a cargo ship, spilling 28,800 bath toys into the sea. Although an ecological disaster, it is interesting how this mishap actually helped oceanographers model ocean currents, with more specimens to track then ever release before in the name of science (albeit accidentally).

Plastiglomerate no. 2 is part of the "New Geology" Series, exploring how post-consumer objects shape our narratives as a species. This piece, in particular, focuses on the use of vibrant colors, familiar, domestic shapes and crystalline glazes for opulence. I wanted to create a sense of tension between the beauty of entanglement, confusion and degradation while still utilizing the geologic metamorphosis of human-made materials as a sort of analogy for the ecological and socio-political crisis we are in as a global community.

Rachael Marne Jones - "Plastiglomerate No. 2"
2020, 14x8x18", Media: Colored porcelain, Porcelain, Firing Process: Electric, Mid-range, Surface: Glazed, Unglazed
Plastiglomerate no. 2 is part of the "New Geology" Series, exploring how post-consumer objects shape our narratives as a species. This piece, in particular, focuses on the use of vibrant colors, familiar, domestic shapes and crystalline glazes for opulence. I wanted to create a sense of tension between the beauty of entanglement, confusion and degradation while still utilizing the geologic metamorphosis of human-made materials as a sort of analogy for the ecological and socio-political crisis we are in as a global community.

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Artist Statement

Through empty pockets, negative skins, trace fossils of life long past, we glean a glimpse of what once was, within the void. What objects, what formal voids will tell our story?

The bits of modern detritus, geo-teric landscapes and anachronous technologies that reveal the vast discrepancies within a world where capitalism’s breath is both hollow and colossal, tapping the pulse of every living being on this planet. Built up, and broken down, teetering on the edge of an existence so fragile that a silent wind seems to threaten what once felt rooted and stable beneath our outstretched palms?

A Serendipitous discovery of an curious origin; the archeological quality of clay compels the forms I make, and interactions that they evoke. When language fails to explain the nuances of material intimacy, clay & replication provides a platform for understanding humankind’s deep emotional history with our environment and the objects we surround ourselves with.

Particles come from the earth, deep histories already embedded; once again broken down, reworked, and polished into something new-passing through our hands, leaving our bodies, to return to the earth. How will these engineered reconstructions inherently alter the essence of their particles’ cycles? What small epiphanies can be revealed from what we hold, build and break with our fingertips? And what of the oily prints we leave behind? Who will be the ones to piece together the stories of our negative skins, whispering in the wind?

Using the remains of intention to construct a path through the future, I use casting and replication as a form of meditation to explore quiet moments left in the wake of human-kinds’ simultaneously ambitious and destructive drive to evolve, piloted by a deep sense of solastalgia.

The Seed Bank Project:

The Seed Bank Project is a multi-era, multi-disciplinary project meant to span decades, cultures and (hopefully) climate phenomena here on planet earth. Hand-made, double-walled porcelain seed vessels are given out to collaborators, who then fill them with seeds that have precious ecological and cultural significance to the region in which they call home. The banks are completely autonomous from human maintenance, meaning they are specifically designed to control the interior seed capsule’s humidity, light and temperature when buried below permafrost utilizing both ancient and modern technologies. This sustains the seed’s ability to stay viable for as long as its’ DNA will allow. They are buried in-situ, where the seeds were harvested and acclimated to grow and become a cultural and ecological marker of what is, and inevitably, what once was. In return, photo documentation, information and the location are shared on a public resource data-base, joining a myriad of banks scattered all over planet Earth. These vessels arose from a welling sense of solastalgia, and a desire to think about artwork beyond its’ primary context. The root of the project stems from an admiration of clay’s inherent ability to bring people together, the desire to promote active local ecological awareness while sowing hope for the future, and as a sort of reckoning with the unknown.

-- Rachael Marne Jones

Bio

Rachael Marne is a ceramic and Mixed Media Collaborative artist, born and raised in Helena, Montana, graduating from University of Montana with her BFA (2011). She did her Post-bacc at Louisiana State University, and received her MFA at Montana State University (2018). Her work has taken her to many exciting places such as the Bayou of Louisiana, the rainforests of Brazil and the Glacial Fields of the Cordillera Blanca in Peru. The diverse ecologies of these places have influenced her drive to understanding the fluxious nature of Earth’s balancing act, and has sparked a deep curiosity within her to understanding humankind’s inevitable variability within the larger system. She is the founder of The Seed Bank Project (2017-ongoing) and was the first artist to attend the Global Sustainability Fellows Program this summer at the Arava Institute for Ecological Studies in Israel (led by the Sustainability Laboratory of New York). She is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY where she teaches ceramics & drawing, and continues her studio practice.

Artist Statement

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