hic_ara artist residency

I’m a senior graphic designer with interest in multimedia, textile design, interactive installation and most recently in ceramics. To find out a bit more about my design background click here. To find out a bit more about my ceramic work click here.

The opportunity to have my own space to explore mediums, ideas and also to work outside of my household is the perfect 2025 project! This year I would like to explore one main interest of mine which is the level of deformity some people put themselves through in order to fit in and belong. I’m intrigued how people struggle to accept their physical appearance and some go to extreme measures to look a certain way. I would like to create a series of pieces reflecting and questioning these beauty standards using exaggeration, texture and resemblance of the human body in all sizes. I believe clay might be the most used medium at this stage however I also would like to explore other mediums and avenues. I love installations where the public can contribute and be part of the work. I would love create a hanging piece made of small clay drops where visitors can add something of their own possession or interact with the piece in the space.

These pieces evoke the need for people to look within. To distance themselves from their out layer and the obsession with how one should look to be accepted. It’s intriguing that ageing is such a natural, revealing and raw process yet some can’t face it as a natural process.

KEY WORDS: deformed bodies / mirrors / real body / ageing / rawness / obsession / belonging / hard faces / frozen emotions

exhibition work.

/ CLAY WORK

Nuvens do Sul by Goldie

My hometown in the South of Brazil is underwater. The estate of Rio Grande do Sul has 350 cities affected by torrential rain. Nuvens do Sul is a collection of 2 pieces which have been handbuilt with a highly textural and tactile clay, BRT (Buff Raku Trachyte). These pieces are my representation of the masses in the sky that float around, bringing unique shapes & patterns to my days & nights. My clouds are dark in colour, moody in shape & rough in texture, just like a storm cloud. Nuvens do Sul represent a grieving but rebuilding community, one night at a time.

Hanging piece / 20cm by 16cm
Standing piece / 24cm by 20cm

MATERIAL: BRT(BUFF RAKU TRACHYTE) CLAY

SIZE:
HANGING PIECE / 20CM BY 16CM + STANDING PIECE / 24CM BY 20CM

Cloud 3 exhibition at @newcastleartspace.  Exhibition Duration/ 12-28 July 2024

Banksia by Goldie

A handmade clay piece inspired by the banksia seed pod’s shape and texture.
My work as a an artist and jewellery maker is heavily inspired by the earth's natural treasures. I let me creative process guide me to the concept of each piece.

Hanging piece / 25cm by 15cm

MATERIAL:
BRT(BUFF RAKU TRACHYTE) CLAY

SIZE:
HANGING PIECE / 25CM BY 16CM

Summer Salt + The Clay room exhibition at @newcastleartspace.  Exhibition Duration/ 1-17 December 2023

experimentation work.

/ CLAY WORK
one / jewellery. cloudy nights. about this piece > www.simonepilla.com/cloudy-nights
two / piece. land of loving. about this pieces > simonepilla.com/land-of-loving