Spikes, intertwining rings and bold bulges sprout from Megan Bogonovich’s otherworldly ceramic botanicals – Colossal



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#ceramics #flowers #Megan Bogonovich #sculpture

« There’s a tree on my street that’s been cut down in a very strange way to accommodate a power line, and I think about that tree a lot, » she says. Megan Bogonovichwho imagines the otherworldly potential of human touch on the environment through playful botanical sculptures.

Based in Norwich, Vermont, Bogonovich recognizes the immense adaptability and strength of nature in seemingly inhospitable spaces. “An entire dandelion growing out of a crack in the sidewalk,” he says. His works embody transformation and abundant growth, and unusual colours, shapes and textures arise in surreal combinations. With bulbous bases, pointed protrusions and intertwining petals, the works imagine « the strange possibilities of what might grow in the universe or what might be the first thing to sprout after an environmental disaster. »

Rooted in the game and the “cstupidity without ease” of reproduction, the sculptures evolve through a long process. Bogonovich begins by hand-building small geometric and organic shapes such as cones, tubes, ovoids and textured patches made from punched holes, cuts and everyday objects such as buttons, which he then casts into plaster to create a mould. “If I cast 30 molds one day, by the next day I have a set of slip cast tinkertoy type parts that I can modify and bend or duplicate. It’s very tiring to get to a point where I can work spontaneously and impulsively with material that would otherwise require planning,” she says.

Photo by Cooper Dodds

These malleable shapes are then fired and prepared for glazing, a slow and painstaking process involving several layers and passages in the kiln at varying temperatures. “The sculptures are opaque white when they first come out of the kiln. I let a lot of pieces build up before I start glazing,” says Bogonovich. ‘I’m used to being surrounded by ghost flowers, so when the tide changes color it feels like a big change in the studio.’ Like nature, glazing is unpredictable and pinks pastels, bold oranges and mottled hues add a whimsical and playful element to the works. “I live in the woods of Vermont and there is so much greenery this time of year. It’s nice to imagine bright yellow tree trunks or bright pink maple leaves,” she says.

Bogonovich works with Kishka Gallery and Librarywhere he recently had a solo show, and has sculptures on view through May 20th at SPRING/BREAK Art Exhibition in New York. Find more of him at his site AND Instagram.

Photo by Cooper Dodds

Photo by Cooper Dodds

Photo by Megan Bogonovich

Photo by Cooper Dodds

Photo by Chad Finer

#ceramics #flowers #Megan Bogonovich #sculpture

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