Laura Curcio
ARCANE V

NFS
36 x 15 x 14cm

ARCANE V' is a sculptural work inspired by the grey-headed flying fox camps that envelop much of my local area on Gadigal land in Sydney’s Inner West. In awe of their transient, bustling colonies scattered along the Cooks River, this work’s imposing sculptural form and its lustrous terra sigillata coating invokes the cohesive chaos of these threatened native communities. A towering base form was first built using thick clay coils, later adorned with overlapping wing appendages and burnished with stones to provide its smooth, shiny appearance. Brushed with an iron-rich terra sigillata, burnished again and then placed in a black fired environment, the piece emerges from the gas kiln shrouded in a transformative, unglazed skin. The result is a blend of iridescent silvers, blacks, and oil-slick effects, bouncing off the undulating wing surface.