Virginia Leonard - Urn for Unwanted Limbs and Other Things (blue, aqua, pink, yellow), 2024

Virginia Leonard is well-established (both in New Zealand and internationally) for her striking, experimental approach to clay sculpture. Originally having trained as a painter, Leonard was drawn to ceramics after being involved in a serious motorcycle accident which resulted  in a long hospitalisation period and an aftermath of living with severe chronic pain. 

Of the explicit link between her life experience and her art-making, Leonard describes:  “My works are self-portraits that address my bodily scarring and chronic pain. Chronic pain has no biological value…it lacks both language and voice. The language of my clay making is my attempt to rid my body of trauma and reduce my level of chronic pain.” 

The intimately physical process of working with clay, resin and glaze has been Leonard’s way of exploring that pain and trauma, with her elaborate vessel forms traversing the line between order and chaos. Through tearing, smearing, lumping and clumping the clay, the forms come together to be representative of bodies, and presented on plinths and platforms, the viewer meets them figuratively as sculptural torsos to be examined - with curious lumps, growths, orifices, fingers, claws, dimples, warts and all. 

• Clay, lustre and resin 
• 260 x 150 x 150mm
• Unique