Viral VI

Tamsin van Essen's porcelain sculpture Viral VI explores erosion and the disruption of form. The angular form has been slip cast with alternate layers of black-stained and white porcelain. The sculpture was then sandblasted to reveal the inner layers and erode the geometric form. The translucency of the porcelain and the interruption of the surface makes it possible to glimpse through to layers beneath, creating a tension between the seen and the obscured.

Courtesy of the private collection of Sally Newsom

● Type: Sculpture
● Dimensions: 15 H x 12 Ø cm
● Material: Porcelain
● Date: 2011

The piece is part of Tamsin van Essen's series Erosion, which explores the disruption of a body through viral infection. Prophetically created years before the Covid pandemic first struck, Erosion aims to convey the idea of a body being taken over by a virus. Tamsin used sandblasting, an aggressively destructive process, to mimic the action of the virus attacking a body. The clean geometric form is "attacked" by the spreading virus, which exposes its inner layers while creating a delicate vulnerability in the shape.

Porcelain VirtuosityExhibition