Unique piece. One of a kind.
 
Andil asked for broken eggs, for “Lifetime Achievement,” the installation that was to be the climax of Nature’s Wild. We had worked together before, for 2019’s “Deities: Part II”, and I was excited and intrigued to figure this out. 
 
For the next months, I tried all kinds of methods until I landed on my process, which incorporated tiny slabs formed onto the mold of real hard-boiled eggs. I used wet newspaper and small slabs of porcelain clay from Tucker’s or PSH, and although I like small and organic, I had to buy some giant genetically modified chicken eggs to use, or the shrinkage of the clay in the drying and firing process would make the shells way too small. Closing the forms, down to a tiny pin hole, brought me joy. It reminded me of Easter time growing up, and poking holes in eggs to blow out the insides, so they could be painted or dyed and kept for long time. Many egg shapes were made, some whole, some broken.
 
Making the eggs taught me a lot about myself. I had a lot going on with my personal life - a new partner, a rapidly aging parent - as well as completing a diploma, passing board exams, and starting my new career. Still, I found solace, comfort, and meaning in this process. It was difficult and laborious at times, and my trust in clay, in art, in consistency, as well as in Andil and the show, kept me grounded.
 
Needless to say, the AMA’s decision to cancel this show came as a blow. I think I was in shock for some time. When I look at some of the eggs I made on the way to the pink ones Andil uses in “Lifetime,” I think about factory farming, the rapidity and thoughtlessness of consumption. I think of women’s worth in capitalism - whole, ‘virgin’ - desirable, generous. Broken, used, to be discarded. I’ve always been a fan of elevating what is seen as disposable, of seeing the beauty and the worth in that which is ‘on it’s way out’. I revel in taking a moment to honour that transition, to not pass judgment, and to value each egg and the shell that held it, as something remarkable.
 - Romy Ceppetelli