Behind the Studio Doors - Anne-Laure Cano MRSS

Behind the Studio Doors is an ongoing programme of talks with members of the Royal Society of Sculptors, chaired by curator and writer Isabel de Vasconcellos. For this new series, we are once again showcasing our members' studios around the world.

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Anne-Laure Cano MRSS's practice is led by material, process and meaning and she speaks about it as follows:

I explore how ceramics can echo the human condition, how we respond to the passing of time, memories and sense of belonging. I examine the properties of clay through a process of breaking and reassembling my pieces. 

In my recent work, I have been looking at the themes of limitation and adaptation. My approach to making is intuitive and experimental, I surround myself with objects, various clays, fragments of pieces that I made and intentionally broke. I pick them up, mix them with wet clay, metal, sand, until I reach a body of work made of layers that is both narrative and abstract. By reusing old pieces that I incorporate in the new ones as a constant movement of destruction and creation, the work reflects on identity and transformation. The lines of stress, cracks and distortion of the pieces resulting from pushing the material to its limits as well as the unanticipated results from firings, explore our duality between fragility and resilience.

Follow Anne-Laure on Instagram at @annelaureceramics
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Isabel de Vasconcellos is an independent curator and cultural producer, with extensive experience collaborating with artists and visual arts organisations to realise world-class public commissions and exhibitions. She writes on contemporary art, photography and design, and is the author of Fourth Plinth: How London Created the Smallest Sculpture Park in the World. Follow Isabel on Twitter at @sliverofice or Instagram at @i_de_v 

Click here to watch earlier episodes of Behind the Studio Doors