The resonant vessel: Grief through clay, voice and the body

First workshopping of performance devised and performed by Lily German at Loose Ends, Thames-side Studios Gallery on 23 February 2024. A wet clay and vocal performance with elements of voice by members of the audience. Informed by research surrounding collective mourning and exploring the contemporary experience of grief.

Loose Ends was a group exhibition which will brought together ten artists working across ceramics, textiles and performance. Loose Ends ran between 24 February – 10 March 2024.

Performance by Lily German, part of group exhibition 'Loose Ends', curated by Lily German.

Loose Ends presented a range of sculptures, performances and surface works which explore connections and the interwoven poetics of material and the body.

Exhibiting artists: Abigail Brothers, Joshua Clague, Hoa Dung Clerget, Lily German, Elena Gileva, Laura Porter, Paloma Proudfoot, Alex Simpson, Holly Stevenson and Melania Toma.

Clay coils are rolled and pressed together. Hands slide past one another; materials slip off fingertips as loose ends collect and are scattered on the floor beneath. The act of making and touch are preserved in the ceramic form and present between each taut thread. Touch solidified within the material. There is inherent proximity to the body in textiles through the everyday encounters of fibre we experience. Woven fibres are held, stretched, pushed and scraped against one another with flexing fingers. Everyday materials are manipulated and transformed into sculpture.

A programme of events and performance were presented at moments throughout the duration of the exhibition. These bursts of activity of outstretched bodies and voice began a conversation between the works in the gallery.