{"product_id":"flagship-of-fragility","title":"Flagship of Fragility","description":"\u003cdiv\u003ePorcelain came to me first through touch: it is soft, fluid under the hand in its raw state. There is something almost sensual in the material before firing.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eBut what truly drew me in, was the desire to dethrone it. Porcelain carries a heavy legacy, the great manufactures, precious dinner services, the romantic figurines of the 19th century with their shepherdesses and gallant couples. I wanted to explore it from a radically different angle, more contemporary, stripped of its utilitarian role and inherited preciousness.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eWhat also fascinates me is its memory. Porcelain captures and holds the finest details within its tight, dense grain, a lace imprint, a gesture, a texture. It keeps everything.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eAnd then there is the fundamental paradox: once fired, porcelain reaches 6 to 7 on the Mohs scale, comparable to hardened steel. It is hard. And yet it is fragile. That contradiction is at the heart of my practice.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eIn my woven works, I wanted to push this paradox as far as it would go: by linking hundreds of small, fragile porcelain elements through a thread system, I give them back a form of suppleness and fluidity, what they had in their raw state and what firing takes away. And paradoxically, this assembly of fragilities becomes a robust structure.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eThis is where the real question emerges for me: is fragility truly a flaw? In our society, the fragility of a living being is often perceived negatively. But my woven works show me otherwise: fragility, put into relation, can become a force. A collective force.\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"SOPHIE MANESSIEZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52868422304053,"sku":null,"price":2600.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/5798\/8661\/files\/sophiemanessiez_expo_Genevieve_Lesieur-1_1_2.jpg?v=1781113379","url":"https:\/\/vesselsandsticks.com\/products\/flagship-of-fragility","provider":"Vessels + Sticks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}