Paul Heroux – Forlorned Figures

The present crisis is impossible to ignore. This plague has an image. Illustrations and photographs of the virus are everywhere, unlike other pandemics. Many artists are incorporating it in their work.

The word forlorn describes the condition we are now in, lonely and forsaken. I hope a vaccine is quickly developed and that my present work will be a reminder of a time past.

 

I use photographic images of shadows of friends and models. These photographs are then made into laser decals that are applied and fired into the surface of a metallic bronze glaze. The photo images are collaged with bits of landscape. They also include a drawing of the coronavirus that has been turned into a rubber stamp dipped into overglaze.

 

My work has taken two directions: one using a bronze reflective glaze with photo image transfers.These pieces are dark and moody. I do still love color and will be showing this folded vase, as well as other colorful work (covered jars, boxes and large plates) in October at June LaCombe‘s in Pownal Maine.*

 

 

I am a potter who makes decorative work that includes contemporary themes and images. I choose the word potter because most of my pieces start on the potter’s wheel, and then parts are added. I don’t shy away from the term decorative because I want my viewers to first be delighted, and then take a closer look. If someone is still debating the craft versus art issue, I leave them to it.

 

 

 

*The show is titled Autumn at Hawk Ridge Farm and runs October 1–31.