MICHAEL’S BOOTS
Threadbare and burnished toe.
Warn rubber tread.
My collection Michael’s Boots, responds to the story of Michael O’Connor who spent years living homeless in Manchester. Its vessels explore an exquisite emblem of this experience, Michael’s black leather boots which bore him on mundane daily cycles of Manchester’s homeless charities.
Michael’s Boots: Leather
Michael’s Boots: Stitch
Through the lense of Object Relation Theory, the vessel pairs which make up the collection are a literal transcription from the ethereal into the physical.
As observed by Donald Winnicott and Melanie Klein, Object Relation Theory is a rationale for attachment. Within it, object-sentimentality is explained as a process of introjection and projection through which we instill emotions into internalised objects before casting them into the physical realm.
Light captured in a leather heal.
Rusted brass meets worn leather.
Michael’s boots were were cracked, worn, beaten and broken but the rich patina of their polished heels glowed under any light. They were as much an item of clothing as they were a memory- or a tragic future waiting in the wings. Though steeped in sentiment, they were kept for a different reason, they still served their purpose. Michael’s room was teaming with similar objects, rescued from a natural end for they were not yet beyond redemption.
Michael’s Boots: Contrast
Michael’s Boots: Tread
Small bowls are enveloped by their larger partners whilst others are forced together when wet, creating intimately interlocking surfaces. They are finished with considered and delicate glaze application which contrasts with raw clay left abrasive, aggravated and tactile. Though taking aesthetic cues from Michael’s Boots, the vessels crucially attempt to express their sentimental value- the intimate story they tell of, perseverance, longevity and redemption.