Looking like some irresistible cross between swirling windblown feathers and soft soft scales, these works of art by Fenella Elms are sure to have your fingers twitching for a feel. The UK based artist describes the recipe for her porcelain wall hung sculptures as follows…

“Powdered porcelain is mixed with water, and sometimes stain, to form individual “beads”. Eventually, enough beads are made to freely build up a “flow” onto a raw porcelain sheet. After thorough drying and tidying up, the whole sheet is eased into a bespoke electric kiln for slowly firing up to 1260 degrees. The sheet shrinks by up to 20% in size during the firing and wavers into a softly undulating edge. The works are lifted onto a spongy glue bed on a mount board for wall hanging.”

An occupational therapist in her former life, it was not until the age of 40 that Fenella began modeling her clay-born art. As intricately detailed as her works are, Fenella’s approach is an exercise in contradiction, as she opts to refrain from glazes in order to highlight the fingerprints, fine cracks and other minute “blemishes” that emerge as part of the making process.

Recently, Fenella has applied her Flows technique to a series of vases, the one above debuted at the Royal College of Art’s Ceramic Art London 2014. Nothing short of amazing. To view more of Fenella Elms’ work, I recommend a visit to her online portfolio at fenellaelms.com. For some fascinating process photos, be sure to check out her twitter at twitter.com/FenellaElms.

 Photos courtesy of FenellaElems.com