Twelve Apostles
The Twelve Apostles - now in York Art Gallery’s permanent collection, were inspired by the glorious sea stacks on the Great Ocean Road which stretches from Melbourne to Adelaide in Australia. They capture the interaction of sea, foam, spray, strata & wind.
The ‘Twelve Apostles’ formed a major part of Loretta’s solo exhibition, ‘Clay Journeys’.
This body of work was inspired by the giant sea stacks seen along the Great Ocean Road in Australia. Initially conceived as abstract pieces, they ultimately morphed into the title of the group with each figure unique in colour, texture and presentation.
In this live video, the celebrated writer and poet Rommi Smith imagines these forms as the living culmination of the creative process over twelve days. Her poem set to original music, signposts this journey with several apposite references to previous series: ‘shimmer; fruit & bloom; pewter & pearl; doubt & certainty’. The accompanying diverse images illustrate the breadth and complexity of Loretta’s body of work over many years.
The climax of the video is the seeming evolution – from clay to life itself,
enabled by the female creator and manifested in these twelve striking forms.
The ‘Twelve Apostles’ are on display at the Centre of Ceramic Art, York Art Gallery.
