When Dust Settles
SOLO EXHIBITION BY
Stephen Lucio
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The Weight of the Wait
Human life is a limited period of time. Regardless of stories of second chances, coming back to life, or any claims of longevity, the simple fact is humans only hang around this earth for a relatively measurable duration. Of course the same can be said of all other living organisms, from the majestic Antarctic blue whale to bacteria one-thousandth of a millimetre. All active life grinds to a halt, and the components break down and return to its basic composition – a dust of sorts.
What sets humans apart is the capacity for memorials and for art. While animals have been observed to show grief towards a deceased member of their species, none are capable of making monuments to a lost life, and moreover, none are able to extend the complexity of the material culture connected to the practice. The oldest discovered human burial from 78,000 years ago is believed to have been wrapped with a shroud and provided a pillow. It only gets grander: from the pyramids of Egypt, the Terracotta Army in Xi’an, to the Taj Mahal, commemoration of the departed has resulted in some of humankind’s best creations.
As of this writing, the Covid Pandemic has claimed close to 7 million lives. It is still rather far from the toll of the 1918 Spanish Flu at 50-100 million lives, or the Second World War at 75 million lost. But in this time of relative peace, it is the greatest number that many in these current generations will experience. With this global event, as well as specific, personal conditions, visual artist Stephen Lucio set out to discover parallels of these situations with his artistic practice, and draw realisations from the standpoint of someone who has lost beloved people, and from someone who is closer to the brink of existence than most of us are.
Continued practice and experimentation has led him to the use of porcelain, stronger than most other pottery types, and at the same time, the most fragile. Originating in China as ciqi (瓷器), from the 7th or 8th century – the whole world was fascinated and desired its qualities, from the neighbouring Japanese to the faraway Europeans. And then at some point during the height of the pandemic, Lucio received a commission for an urn.
It is from these that the exhibition takes off: the urn as a vessel, porcelain as expression. Throughout its history, the urn has remained an intimate memorial to the dearly departed. While inhumation has been the popular choice for memorial practices, the pandemic created an unexpected demand – or rather requirement – for cremations, due to the lingering nature of the virus. Deprived of the chance to have standard practices for the deceased, many turned to the urn as the way to show their respects and wishes. For the artist, porcelain is the choice of material for this object, given its impact despite its fragility.
We are presented with an installation that is more of a feeling than an experience, more of a moment than a location. Harking to a Biblical reference are seven urns, each bearing texts that evoke mortality and a reference to the ceramic practice: “The Wheel has Come Full Circle,” “Find Rest in Broken Pieces,” “Forever Humbled by Your Cracks,” “Your Breaks will not be Missed,” with twin pieces “Score and Slip Together and Always” & “Through Thickness and in Heat.” Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years flow through hourglasses with porcelain dust. Central to the exhibition is a slab bearing the epitaph: “In Surrender to the Potter’s Hands” – a culmination of all the variables that led to this, the zenith of the artist’s will.
With a healing and hopeful experience in mind, Stephen Lucio provides a venue to ponder the dust of man. What is left behind is meant for those waiting. What can be seen are for those who are to follow.
– LXX,2023.03
