The Doors of Tripoli Series

The Doors of Tripoli Series
Originally uploaded by la_v_i_k_a
Fired last night, kiln opening this morning. They are in the same positions as in the last two photos, when they were green, unfired. There are three additional buttons here: the influence got into my other work.

These were inspired by Hibo's photos of the Old Doors of Tripoli, on FaceBook.

As Sue Michael reminded me, buttons are like doors. Another friend responded by acknowledging their role, for women, as a fastener of clothing, a keeper of person: our safety.

I had a hard time finishing these. I cried many times thinking of the women and children, waiting behind doors in Tripoli.

The Old Doors of Tripoli: Glazed & Signed

The Old Doors of Tripoli: Glazed & Signed
Originally uploaded by la_v_i_k_a

This set is now ready to be fired. Many risks here: I can guess about how some glazes will behave together, but I cannot know for certain. And, here I'm using many of them over translucent porcelain, for the first time.

During firing, porcelain becomes a ceramic that is nearly glass; its surface vitrifies and almost self-glazes. That changes the behavior of the underglazes and glazes that sit on it.

Yes, for those who might have noticed: I glazed on greenware and will fire once to maturity. I single-fire.

The Old Doors of Tripoli: Underglazing

In the photo that accompanies my previous post below, the porcelain clay has been patterned, cropped, drilled, trimmed, beveled and sponged.

Several hours of work later, each button now has layers of underglazes, glazes and stains, in the hope of patinas and combinations that will reference Hibo's photographs of Tripoli's old doors.

I fall back on skills learned in theater technical classes, where I learned to make common materials look like anything from cloth, rich wood, cinder block... to fine alabaster.

There is still more work to be done before they are ready to fire.

The Old Doors of Tripoli

Doors of Tripoli
Originally uploaded by la_v_i_k_a

Having lost contact with women--net friends-- in Tripoli, how to express what it means?

Eman el Obeidi giving voice.

Admiring for quite a while now, I chose Hibo's photographs of the Old Doors of Tripoli, here as inspiration and reference for these buttons, which are still green--unfired.

Doors...for so many reasons.

I have trepidation. Is it trivial to reference so much in buttons? What happens when I sell my buttons? Probably, artists who have long known they are artists have already answered such questions for themselves. I'm not sure I have .

I want people, I want other women, to care. To take it upon their clothing.

And if they don't know and they don't care?

Maybe some satisfaction in knowing they have unwittingly been made to bear witness.