67P in 3D / by Ekaterina Smirnova

I am starting to develop a new idea. Comet 97P is the main subject still, but this time I would like to work with a three dimensional format. This is a very early stage of the process and it is hard to say what will come out of it at the end. But as it develops further I am getting a more clear picture. 
For now I am putting my ideas on paper, making collages and 3D models. I picture my final artwork to be made of porcelain (perfect white) and stoneware (rough dark). I am taking pottery classes at the moment to study the precess and my possibilities.

White cone shaped objects, piercing through the rock represent the vaporizing water from the comet as it moves through the space. The contrast with natural shapes of the rocks and perfect sharp shapes of the white cones are very attractive to my eye. It is a parallel between the solid and liquid (rock and water) as well as the union of two different conditions of the material: solid and liquid. Water represented on the comet is remaining in the solid condition of ice and only when the comet is passing next to the Sun, it's starting to melt and instantly turning into vapor (gas), stretching for many miles as a comet's tail.

3D model: 8"x5"x4", rock and paper

3D model: 8"x5"x4", rock and paper

Collage is another good way to play with the project and quickly decide on the forms, orientation and the relation with the main objects. For building the parts out of clay I will need to have an idea of the shapes and then allow myself to follow my intuition while forming 3D rock objects. 

Paper scraps

Paper scraps