Hello everyone! I am so looking forward to sharing with you today’s artist Candy ward who creates wonderful ceramics. In today’s interview Candy tells us what inspired her ceramic adventures, her thoughts on body acceptance and more...
Tell is about yourself and your practice?
My name is Candy (she/her) and I am a ceramic artist from London. I make functional ceramic objects that aim to celebrate the diversity of women’s bodies. In my work you’ll see lot of boobs, tummies and organic/imperfect forms.
What inspires your art form?
My art is influenced by my own struggles with body acceptance. I’ve had an eating disorder for most of my life so have always battled with my own body image. Making ceramics in this way has been a way for me to channel and manage these difficult thoughts and feelings. I suppose unconsciously I’ve always been seeking the beauty in others’ bodies and channeling that through my work in the hopes that it will enable me to see it in myself. I really love when other’s are able to see themselves in my work too and feel connected to it or represented by it.
What are your thoughts on body acceptance/ body neutrality?
I was so relieved to find out about the terms “body acceptance” and “body neutrality”. I felt like the only option I had, other than hating my body, was to love it (as that’s what we’re told we must do, whilst simultaneously being told to change everything about ourselves?!). So, when I realises there was this middle ground, it felt like a much more attainable goal and I was no longer set up to fail miserably!
What is your favourite piece you have created and why?
The piece that comes to mind is one of my first ceramic experiments with the body. When I first started
working with ceramics when I was 18 I took a cast of my own belly using Mod-Roc and then used this to cast a bowl in porcelain, which had the imprint of my belly. This was the beginning of my work looking at the body. I called them my Belly Bowls!
What would you like to see in the future regarding the body acceptance movement?
I would love to just see it go more mainstream. I still have so many friends/family caught up in diet culture because it’s just so ingrained. Having these spaces online with likeminded people is so great but it feels like a battle sometimes having conversations in real life with people who just don’t really get it.
Who are your favourite creative/s that explore body acceptance/ fat acceptance/ self-love within their work?
@meggarrod.art
@mbrandphotography
@the.goddess.revolution
@mm_illustrates
@rebeccawisestudio (ofc!)
Thank you so much Candy for sharing with us your thoughts, process and wonderful ceramics in this thoughtful interview.
If you would like to find out more about Candy and her work click here to go to Candy's Instagram.
Thanks for reading and take care x
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