Укр.: Насіннєві скульптури -- це проект ірпінської керамістки Юлії Маклюк, присвячений пам'яті містян/ок, що загинули під час воєнних дій в Ірпені. Бюсти виготовлені із сирої глини та заповнені насінням, котре після дощу проростає квітами.

Eng.: This currently untitled project will be a series of unfired clay sculptures. They are hollow human busts that I make with local wild clay and reclaimed clay from the studio (clay supply is super limited due to war, btw). They do not undergo firing in a kiln, so the clay remains fragile and soluble.

When the sculpture dries, I fill it with soil and some seeds. The seeds I have at the moment are sunflower, wheat, pumpkin, marigold and some mixed flowers. All of them are very common and symbolic in Ukrainian culture.

Then the sculpture is discreetly placed outdoors somewhere in my town Irpin. As the clay gradually breaks down under weather conditions, the seeds will germinate and the plants will start to grow eventually turning the bust into a flowerbed.

My idea behind it is that the sculptures symbolize people of Irpin who died during the Russian occupation in March 2022. So they will serve as an ephemeral memorial of some kind. But once they slowly dissolve and give life to flowers, it will reflect the way our grief transforms and the deceased continue to be part of nature's cycle of life and death.

There's also a personal dimension to this project. When I make a breakable clay figure I can't help mourning the life I had and probably lost due to the Russian military invasion. Gone are all the plans for the future that I so carefully created, as well as general sense of safety and predictability (whatever small in the current world with climate change and pandemic). The feeling that your whole world is being ruined overnight is so traumatic. It won't be as before. But maybe there will be something new growing out of the remains.

And of course another aspect is sustainability. These living sculptures demonstrate the potential for post-war renovation, both in terms of greening and beautifying our damaged cities and for small-scale urban gardening. There's already a movement to plant more edible plants in the cities to support ourselves during food shortages (a homage to the Victory Gardens of the 2nd World War). Just this weekend I visited an event where a caffe in Kyiv built garden beds on their territory, and there are likely to be more mini-gardens like this.

And since the works aren't being fired and shipped to customers, their environmental footprint is much lower than usual. This is something I always long for, as an eco-conscious potter.

Scupture 1

Sculpture 2

Sculpture 3

Sculpture 4

Sculpture 5