Pictures by Tommy Smits
Carry, lift, leave, fade
Wammes approaches her sculptures as characters in a story, where each sculpture must relate to the others. The origin of the material plays an important role: in the work Carry, lift, leave, fade she uses ceramic alongside (sub)fossil oak wood from an eighteenth-century shipwreck. The work focuses on the dynamics of carrying, falling, supporting, weight and connection, inspired by a shifting dynamic within her family. She connects two hanging ceramic-wooden sculptures via pulleys to three ceramic elements on the ground, anchored with a lead core — as if it were a heavy heart.
Wammes experiments with the extreme firing temperatures of ceramics, in order to influence the colour and tactile character of the clay. Sometimes a sculpture breaks, after which she reassembles it into a whole. The themes of support, repair and connection therefore appear not only in the final result, but are part of the entire making process. Through her 'music letter' — an auditory interpretation of a newsletter — Wammes shares her research and working process with the visitor on this specific work.