‘Ode To The Baião - II’ by Paul Morley - 2024

‘Ode To The Baião - II'

Paul Morley is a British sculptor and ceramicist, designing and creating from his Sussex based studio.

This Spring, Morley presents a series of four contemporary ‘totems’ that pay homage to the traditional Northeastern Brazilian music familiar as ‘Baião’. Popular during the 1950’s, the syncopated rhythm induced a particular dancing style associated with the genre. Each individual sculpture depicts this movement of two abstract figures.

The ceramic sculptures are carefully constructed using a single clay slab for each figure. They are joined with aminimal amount of clay to allow a partial view of the inside and partnering figure. This construction technique is fragile, in which the clay is very susceptible to warping, thus Morley uses an arduous drying process over several months to minimise this effect. The surface decoration is a mixture of layered underglazes and glazes that are applied and then scraped back to expose the raw clay in places. The clay is still in its most fragile ‘green’ (unfired) state during this process.The sculptures are then fired to earthenware.   

Collection inspired from the Donald Fagan vocal line: ‘Slammin’ Out A Baiõn’.

Dimensions: 56cm x 30cm x 10cm