V&A collection

About Work

These a pieces are response to an 18th Century object from the V&A collection in the Chinoiserie genre and I thought it fitting for this line of thought about cultural appropriation or appreciation. It is a series of hats hand modelled in different porcelain and white stoneware clay, some glazed and some left unglazed, sitting on a ceramic plinth. These hat designs are found in different representations of the Orientals at the time. Sources are all 18th Century European, like Sèvres and Meissen figurines, or an etching of a masquerade costume design. I was instantly drawn to the original objects because they are caricatures, comical, theatrical and exotic projections and for the Europeans at the time, the idea of the Orientals were visions of repulsion and attraction alike. So for me, being a stranger in a strange land, appropriating something that was appropriated is an interesting study for me, even though I cannot quite describe what it does.

Artist

Gerald Mak is a Hong Kong born, London based artist. Working predominantly with clay, Mak suffuses his experience as a migrant with the material possibilities of his medium into an interdisciplinary practice that examines ideas of culture, representation and community. Mak is currently studying on the Ceramics and Glass programme at the Royal College of Art.