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STUDENT GALLERY

Collected student work from UNCW.

My time spent in the wilderness was never lonely.

Although, I was often alone.

Leading groups of strangers along my daily path,

Peppered with familiar faces.

The trees waved hello in the wind,

The waves lapped the shore like a tap on my shoulder.

The kingfisher though is seldom seen,

Its song cuts through the landscape like an alarm.

An alarm to notice, to be present, here now.

It's habitat is the same as mine

Anywhere near water we'll be just fine.

Reliable and constant, wherever I go, there it is.

From across the globe to my own backyard

I hear its song and remember who I am.

Hal·cy·on /ˈhalsēən/

(adj) denoting a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful.

(noun) a tropical Asian and African kingfisher with brightly colored plumage.

(noun) a mythical bird said by ancient writers to breed in a nest floating at sea at the winter solstice, charming the wind and waves into calmness.

The strawberries for me signify my mother, maternity, and all things relating to that side of my family as my mother’s maiden name, Jagodich, means “family of the strawberry.” I wanted to display these strawberries in a way that is beautiful, as I find my mother, as well as motherhood in general, to be beautiful, kind, and loving. The red used in this project is connected to those feelings. However, motherly relationships can be very fragile, fickle, and changing throughout life. The same loving feelings can become stifling, and within relationships with mothers, there are often feelings and memories we want to lock away or often disregard. This framing, within the box, represents that; the duality of beauty and joy within love, but also the stifling, difficult feelings that accompany memories of the past. I wanted to have the strawberries hanging as well to represent the vulnerability and fragility of love in relation to these things. The box represents the way we close off these feelings sometimes, as they can be hard to face, despite the beauty within them.

My family and I often go out on our boat into the marsh islands North of Figure Eight Island during the Summer. During these times, we would have a lot of fun relaxing on sand banks, venturing into small creeks and seeing a variety of different marine animals, and fishing for our dinner.

In the literal sense, Froggy is the stuffed frog toy my grandfather gave me when I was just a few days old. Yet, when I look at him, I can’t help but match his wide grin with a smile of my own, because I see him as so much more than just that. He’s an object of my love precisely because he is a symbol of it; both the kind, loving parts of myself, and the pure essences of those qualities I aspire to. As my love for Froggy has grown each day, so too has my greatest passion: creating artwork of frogs just like him. And while Froggy is a stuffed toy, he is also a relic of our shared history, my constant companion in the present, and an ideal of the person I hope to become. So, when considering how to represent myself, I chose to sculpt the very best part: my heart.

In this sculpture, I wanted to capture the beauty and color of the underwater coral reef environment. I included specific species of sharks and rays that I encountered while I was doing research in Florida - one of the most life changing experiences I have had. Focusing on different textures and anatomical accuracy, I aimed to create a piece that looked like it was taken directly from the ocean floor.

HLC

2019 Wix@HeatherLeeCeramics

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