KATT FORE celebrates the quiet strength of women who do it all. This month, we spoke to friend and Melbourne-based artist Tahni Bouhadana, whose practice moves between ceramic craftsmanship and resin-based experimentation. Recently graduated from RMIT's Bachelor of Fine Arts, she comes from a creative family, and it shows.
Her work has a way of slowing you down. The pieces are grounded and tactile, feeling more like companions than objects. For this edition of our Stories, we sat down with Tahni over a glass of wine to talk about her journey and the pieces she creates.
How do you know when a piece feels done? Is that something you sense in your hands, or somewhere quieter than that?
It depends on the material. When creating a sculpture from resin, I have a set outcome with measurements and scale before creating my mold and casting, so knowing the final result is relatively strict. Whereas, when working with stoneware and porcelain in a hand building and wheel throwing context, it’s more of an intuitive, mental and physical process. This process begins with a spark of inspiration and drive, followed by a natural feeling to spend time with my material and body. When working with clay, I don’t feel as much pressure to test and resolve a final piece as I do with resin. I don’t find it difficult to step back and allow a work to breathe and let itself be finished. Then, when I come back to it maybe a year later, it has its new rendition and emergence reflecting my growth in knowledge
and skill.
When you're shaping something someone will actually use, what tends to lead — the feeling you want it to have, or the way it needs to work?
The feeling and aura of the work drives its function. I don’t mind creating something that may look like a cup, yet its purpose be to sit on a table unfilled.
On the days you feel a little far from your work, what gently brings you back?
Looking at my sources of inspiration. I have a folder on my phone with screenshots that I know I’ll always come back to. Books often bring the most extraordinary references to my world and simultaneously a sense of quiet that allows me to reflect and consider what might come.
What does a quiet, ordinary day in the studio look like for you? Especially the ones with your dad beside you?
I don’t know if I’d call any day in my studio quiet. My wheel is very loud and I try overcome that with even louder music or tv. My screwdriver, mallet and de-gasser also bring ‘lovely’ sounds into my everyday. The processes I endeavor with my dad, Asher Bouhadana who is a carpenter are the most exciting. They’re very technical and physically demanding; he really helps me bring the work I envision to life. The last project I worked on required me casting a 30kg plaster mold. My dad helped me build the mold, pour the heavy plaster and move the sculpture around. He had to help me chip away most of the plaster to make it functional. These moments together make me so proud and grateful to experience the world of great craftsmanship from a great creator like him.
