Laurence Sturla

Went to Country is Laurence Sturla’s first solo show in the UK. Sturla’s ceramics draw heavily from his upbringing in Swindon, once part of the thriving industrial revolution in England but now one of many English towns lined with empty factories. Sturla finds fruitful perspective in W.G. Sebald's Rings of Saturn. As with Sebald, the artist begins his process with deep historical research, creating sculptures which are seemingly torn from the past, but truthful to its making in the present. Sturla troubles the object, it’s materially and its narrative history.

A shard of unearthed ceramic becomes a durable cultural artefact, a form that can be reconstructed, dated and placed in the world. The moment a ceramic object is withdrawn from the kiln, it reacts with its surroundings, absorbing chemicals and moisture present in the air, gaining a weight throughout its lifetime at a very precise rate. The level of moisture and the weight that the object gains, allow a procedural and accurate dating process - a ceramic object can act as it’s own internal clock, a timely key to unlocking the past. These geological fingerprints allow a certain insight to the past, in its present form, opening up shared identities and histories amongst modern ruins.