"Humans and little humans"
Ceramics Art and Perception, 2003 Issue 54

On one series called “Human Buildings” some human figures are alone, or in family surroundings, and some are little humans. Each one stands upright, dignified and gracefully.

Humans are transformed into a standard form by the law of the society, yet as member of a society it is unavoidable that it makes you an individual. This group of works shows that an individual person stays as a phenomenon; these compositions create not only an aesthetic value but also self-identification and self-reliance in which we find the artist’s success.

The “Human Building” works embrace the viewer with human emotions. The tallest of them is only 25-30 cm high but we understand from these works that size is not the issue for the communication that good artwork provides.

 copyright Kemal Uludug

“Cog-wheel on Plane” is a wall relief about 90 cm in diameter. The human figures are in a circle of unity as if they were an emblem of solidarity.

The second part of the exhibition consisted of “Tablets” which are made in the raku technique. “Human Building” with stoneware matt glazes. Kemal Uludag has successfully realised both difficult techniques of ceramics.

“Tablet” works are contemporary yet at the same time reflect the cultural inheritance of human character that was created by the Anatolian civilisations. Some tablets contain human figures. Some, in spite of their labyrinth-like surroundings, were able to prove themselves as dominant. Some seems as if they were lost in ‘no-through’ roads.

Kemal Uludag with his individual style has proved whit this exhibition that his ceramics need not only be about functional ware but also draw attention to his non-functional artistic expression.