"A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other."  Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities

For the past few years my work has explored the concept of the unknown interior that is so well expressed by this quotation from Charles Dickens. It touches upon the difficulty of ever truly knowing the truth inside someone or something and for this reason my current strand of work is named “… that Profound and Secret Mystery”.

The pieces present a metaphorical narrative. They follow the progress of  Everywoman/man as she/he moves through life and is formed not only by their genetic inheritance, but also by their natural and cultural environment. How a person seems to others may be very different from how they experience themselves, hence at the heart of everyone and everything there lies a mystery and the truth remains our own construct.

Apertures are used to represent DNA; look through the holes and you may see a little of the interior but not much. Similarly science may be able to unravel the secrets our DNA holds, but for most people it remains one of life’s unknowns.     

Ultimately our thoughts and personality are guarded within ourselves and these ceramic forms, so influenced by architecture, are metaphors for the unknown interior world of Everywoman/Everyman.

It is a great pleasure for me to take part in this exhibition of work that explores a sense of the narrative through ceramics and painting.

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Victoria Eden