Papatuanuku Earth Mother fountain I

I first draw gesturally on paper until I can visualise and understand the form I want to build in space. This provides the inner directing that enables me to build spontaneously. I make the most accurate generalisation of the form in slabs of clay that can be urged more specifically with gestural pressure from my fingers. I then tune into the rhythm of the whole piece, painting with a large brush and slip, making drawing responses into clay. The process seems in keeping with the meaning of the work - the development, altering, eroding/encrusting of a land form. I empathise with the land, adjusting and maintaining its identity through all the pressures and changes. Julia van Helden 'Treasures of the Underworld' catalogue, p. 25. World Expo, Seville. 12 April -20 October 1992