Jemma Gowland • July 1 - 25
Jemma creates expressive narrative sculpture that references and builds on the long tradition of the porcelain figurine. Her detailed porcelain figures explore upbringing and attitude, using cast doll faces, fired dressmaker’s pins and mixed media. She plays with the dichotomy of conformity and resistance.
Jemma explores the way that from the moment we are born gender affects our future, and upbringing influences our adult life. Girls are constrained from birth to conform to an appearance and code of behaviour, to present a perfect face, and maintain the expectations of others. She says, “Being a mother, wife and daughter, as well as a woman often working in a largely male field, has led to an examination of the role of the female, and how societal norms can still shape the way children are raised.”
The masks that adorn the figures are cast from a large collection of dolls. The dolls are a reference childhood but also reflect the way that upbringing necessitate the learning to wear a mask to essential to fit us into society. The concept of the mask depicts the outward façade we show the word and the introverted part of our identities we keep private.
Jemma first trained for a BSc in Engineering Product Design, and worked in the fields of industrial design, production, and architectural model making before becoming a teacher of Design and Technology. With experience in making using a broad range of materials, for a wide range of purposes, ceramics has become her the abiding interest. The unique versatility of clay, the surface possibilities, the technical challenges and opportunities seem endless.