In this work, where the Anka’s cycle of rebirth is completed, the rising body and the wing and tail pieces opening in different directions bring a sense of liberation and movement to the fore. Pointed forms multiplying out from the body evoke the release of an inner energy and a regained vitality. While the earthy, dark surface preserves the traces the Anka carries from fire and transformation, the upward-turned head and opening wings point to a new beginning. Anka IV symbolises the liberation of a being that has completed its transformation and its ascent back into life.
Taking the rebirth narrative of the mythological Anka (phoenix) as its starting point, the Anka Series explores the traces of transformation and memory through ceramic form. In the series the Anka moves away from its traditional depictions and becomes pared down; body, wing, neck and tail at times merge into a single fluid form, at times break apart and multiply, opening out into space.
Each sculpture is like a different state of the same being. The reds of fire, dark metallic surfaces and earthy browns represent the different thresholds between disappearance and renewed existence. The cracks, colour transitions and firing marks left on the ceramic surface are not hidden; instead they become part of the form as the memory of transformation.
In this series, therefore, rebirth does not mean the complete erasure of the past. With each transformation the Anka carries traces of its previous existence. It breaks, changes, takes shape again and rises.
Rather than a fresh start, the Anka Series is the story of becoming another existence while carrying the traces of the past.