Toni De Jesus
My work and ethos is centred around the idea of ceramics and its strong association with craft. As a material and its context within the fine art spectrum. I am interested in the factors which compare with the constant debate about crafts, and its position within today’s society.
In essence my work is autobiographical, in a sense that it is in a quest to find its identity. Myself, questioning my personal identity, where do I belong? We have been living in a constant state of flux, not knowing where we belong. The work is made manifest through instability. It is a product of the political, economic and socio-cultural issues that we are facing, from Brexit to the ongoing Pandemic to more personal states of being. This is extended to the public to question their own being through the work.
This constant flux is the reason I am so fascinated with duality and juxtaposition. The idea that my work balances around the space between, function and non-function, tradition and breaking with tradition, craftsmanship-based art and idea-based art.
Flux is what we want in life, nothing is ever still and so it shouldn’t attempt at fixed definition.