Madeleine Thornton-Smith

Remediation is the act of re-forming an object in an altered material – challenging the idea that there is a “truth” or “purity” to medium-specific art practices. This is important in the practices of contemporary craft artists Madeleine Thornton-Smith and Katherine Hubble. The artists interrogate support structures through the idea of “adornment” in ceramics and jewellery.

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Madeleine slip-casts materials familiar to the ceramic studio, such as bubble wrap, glass and expanding foam. She then “adorns” vessels, plinths and tiles with small cast pieces to create sculptural reliefs. Recently she has also been casting shells and rocks. These objects are similar in form to the shells Katherine casts in her jewellery practice. Oyster shells, meat trays and leftover studio materials are treated by society as refuse. Casting these in clay, polyurethane and silver challenges material hierarchies, raising questions about the status of art and craft. Ceramic vessels, dishes and plinths act as support structures for these jewellery pieces: stand-in bodies adorned in cast textures and forms.