SHIKHA HUTCHINS

When Shikha learned that she would be participating in Boisbuchet’s residency program, she thought about how to work within the amount of time (one week) and that she would not be able to fire clay. Impermanence was her guiding light; presence, play, and reverence for nature were her grounding principles.  Shikha chose a meditative location, where the light and the trees formed a spiritual natural structure. In a gesture of gratitude, she chanted and began foraging for wild local clay.

Shikha rendered local acorns into a dye and coloured muslin, which she cut and strung around the sacred space as prayer flags. Using the foraged clay, she built pedestals to display raw earth vessels, filled with wild flowers, grasses, and decaying branches adorned in lichen and moss. She formed earthen masks to enliven the space, enabling viewers to find themselves clearly mirrored in the natural setting. Additional devotional objects included raw clay beads, strung with gathered hay for prayer, grace, and centreing; bowls for holding dried leaves or nothing itself; and skulls as memento mori. Each item was placed within the space as an act of gratitude.

Because the clay was not fired, but borrowed, rain and weather would eventually return all of these sculptures to the earth. This unavoidable decomposition put the sculpture into motion. Like the mushrooms and plants around it, the created space had a growing season  which would come to an end. Ceramics last forever; this approach to the medium is closer to performance. As a way of sharing her efforts, Shikha invited other residents and staff at Boisbuchet to create their own offerings from the foraged clay and to distribute them in the space. They also climbed the fallen trees, adorned themselves with the necklaces, and danced with the masks.