Studio Pottery | Michal Fargo: Clay, Foam and Tomatoes

Thirty-year-old Michal Fargo is a ceramic artist and designer from Tel-Aviv, Israel. She graduated in 2011 from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem and currently works at the Adama Ceramic Studio.

The above image comes from a series of Fargo’s objects titled Synthetic Mimetic. They’re the end-result of her experimentation with foam. At CFile we talk about the connection ceramic materials have with the natural world with an almost religious reverence. Ceramics is an ancient artform that illustrates again and again humanity’s relationship with the Earth.

Here, however, Fargo has joined artists such as An Te Liu who want to explore our relationship with the modern, synthetic materials which have, in a way, replaced our natural surroundings. Fargo explains further, relating the idea to her process:

“By using the most barbaric way, by shredding piece by piece with my bare hands from a foam cube I was able to create a dynamic piece that examinates and reflects on the relationship between material and shape. The vessels have many oxymorons in them. By dealing with issues such as imitation and interpretation I was able to create a new take on modern tactility and how we experience the day to day synthetic materials that surround us. These vessels are an allegory about the human life and how they changed. Before the industrial revolution, humans were all surrounded by nature- rocks, trees, animals, etc… we had different colors around us, and different textures. Today, all we have around us in our immediate environment is colored and scented and engineered to the core. The synthetic mimetic vessels are trying to capture the longing to authentic nature and at the same time to celebrate progress and its many benefits, and maybe combine both emotions into one.”

She carried her material experimentations further with a series called Else. These porcelain vessels are cast with sponges, eliminating the need for a traditional mold and creating unique textures. Fargo sees the project as a hybrid of craft and design. The sponge models were dipped into a mix of porcelain. In addition to the different surfaces, her models are freed from things like parting lines and pouring points and so have a free form shape.

Described on her website as an ongoing project, the Tom Tom Club collection departs from Fargo’s work with unnatural materials and gives us something more grounded in nature. These ceramic vases take the shape of brightly-colored vegetables, a nod to the natural processes that produced the flowers displayed within.

Bill Rodgers is a Contributing Editor at CFile.

Featured image: Vessel from the Synthetic Mimetic series by Michal Fargo. Photograph by Mel Bergman.

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