I think they are quite beautiful. Hands show people. A person’s hands show how much trauma they have been through.
Jordan Dymke (1990) is an emerging multidisciplinary artist who has been practising in the Arts Project Australia studio since 2012 and undertaking a traineeship in the studio and gallery since July 2019. Primarily, he has a figurative-based practice that focuses on painting and drawing from life, as well as being motivated by imagery and photographs he collects from magazines and online resources.
In this interview, Dymke discusses Sensitive Touch, a ceramic sculpture of two expressive, nonuniform hands with iridescent glazing highlighting ‘volcanic dust’ tones. He reflects on the study of hands in his practice as a catalyst for exploring, realising and rectifying personal experience.
Jordan Dymke, Not titled, 2019, earthenware and glaze, 21.5 x 19 x 10 cm
What can you tell me about this work?
This has been untitled but I have a title for it now. It is called Sensitive Touch. I based it on a Rodin ceramic. I have done a lot of ceramics of my left hand. Rodin did two hands, they were intertwined with one another. I kept on doing one hand but, I thought, why shouldn’t I do two hands in one piece? So, I started doing it.
What is your experience with ceramics and why did you use these colours, the dark blue, grey and amber?
I have been doing ceramics for a couple of years now, but I don’t feel like I have much experience, but others would say I do. I was lucky enough to go to Vanuatu and walk up a volcano. I thought I am going to see the colours of the volcano and put that in my work, like someone has volcano dust on their hands. I also really like the glaze I used on it.
Jordan Dymke at Arts Project Australia Studio
What other aspects do you like about this work?
I found with one of the hands, I spent a lot of time working on it, sculpting it, and the other hand, I became fed up with it. They took around the same time but the first one I did was very sculptural. But I think they represent my hands because they don’t look the same- it happened to be a coincidence on how the work turned out.
Can you tell me more about your recurrent depiction of hands?
In 2D, I have done a couple of portraits of my left hand which has a scar. I think they are quite beautiful. Hands show people. A person’s hands show how much trauma they have been through. Your hands show, more or less, what you have you been going through. Doing my hands series, it was like coming to a realisation; it was a freak accident that I had to have an operation on my hand, which gave me a scar. It was a grief process, which got better. My hands series helped me be ok with it.
