The Artline x Lockerroom

THE ART—CLE : ISSUE 03 2025

the apple falls far from the tree

A current body of work exploring my time in
Portugal so far, a new relationship, new family, landscape, language, culture, architecture, art and way of being. References and reflections of these considerations aim to be strewn throughout this work.

Old photographs of the family history of my partner, cakes made on a weekly basis by his mother and always found at another Pastelaria of the next village over. The simple form of the cake, with its endless adaptions, adornments, a symbol and gesture of connectedness, made with love, always. The character- istics of Algarvian architecture. Forms and themes derive from or pay homage to architectural details of pillars, walls, ledges, fences, entryways and chim- neys, of this new home of mine. A nod to Chaminés de Saia de Monchique, a small booklet of my father in laws that depicts photographs of the Chimneys in Monchique.

Pieces from this body of work are predominantly Wood Fired, once or twice at Cerdeira in the centre of Portugal or at Clay Kitchen in the Alentejo region. I have been lucky enough to partake in 3 Wood Firings in the past year here, ranging from 40 to 100 hours each, a labour of love, the physical and mental process of firing with wood.

The surfaces of these pieces are developed from foraged materials that I have collected around Portugal including; 3 different clay bodies found and dug in the Algarve. Wood Ash from Fig Tree, Hibiscus Tree, Olive Tree, Wild Holm Oak, Cork Oak, Rose Bush and Apple Tree, most of which have come from our garden. Quartz collected on the cliffs of Cavaleiro and granite from the highest point of Portugal mainland, Serra da Estrela. I also experimented with firing quite a few pieces of Greenware (raw clay, unglazed) and salt firing. These pieces develop a ‘glaze’ throughout the firing due to ash deposits from the wood or salt landing on the pots, melting and creating their own glazed surface. A truly collaborative and unique experience with the flame, the kiln, the object and the team firing.

Altogether these facets, intertwine and overlap, creating layers of meaning within the apple falls far from the tree. I aim to capture experience and place, a conjuring of marks, traces, remnants of Portugal within this body of work.

The photographs created by Mário Rui Silva and myself were taken in Monchique in the cork forest that sits up behind our garden. The contorting of the cork tree, twists and turns, a constant dance in the company of one another. I personally felt drawn to this area as it plays a significant role in my new living experience, as well as, a comfort in an adaption of the rainforest home I’ve left behind in Australia. Furthermore, the photographs aim to reflect upon my admiration of film photographs of my partners grandparents and the images they captured within Portugal many years ago.

Here,
the edge of the world,
the feeling one gets standing atop a cliff at the south/west coast, looking out to endlessness.

The horizon line seems warped, rounded,
the water feels expansive, constant, as if nothing exists beyond itself. I, the apple, fall far from the tree here.

The Artline photographs taken by Mário Rui Silva. Kiln, process and product photographs taken by the artist.