Yasmin Smith, Angophora, 2023, Kuba Kuba/ Middle Head angophora ash glaze on white stoneware slip, installation dimensions varable, TCG22853
(photo: Jacquie Manning)

Commissioned by Mosman Art Gallery

Angophora is a new work made by casting angophora branches in stoneware clay. Yasmin collected these branches from the headland angophora forests of Booragy (Bradleys Head), which she has cast to create these sculptures. Yasmin has then burned the wood to make ash glazes which, via colour and texture, reveal and archive the chemicals that the angophora has absorbed in its lifetime. For each artwork she makes, Yasmin has the ash analysed for its chemical content. Her process investigates the combined environmental and human history of a place, stories of geology, plant biology and how the natural environment may have been impacted by human intervention such as through farming, mining, or industry.