Claudia Comte

Queen of the Volcano

2019

Ceramic
300 x 110 x 112cm

Best known for her site-specific installations featuring wooden sculptural forms set against graphic, abstract wall paintings, Claudia Comte creates a unique, rule-based measurement system for each new body of work so that every piece relates to a particular scale.

The three meter tall ceramic sculpture,The Queen of the Volcano, was central to Comte’s largest installation to date-I Have Grown Taller fromStanding with Trees-at Copenhagen Contemporary in 2019. The exhibition exemplifies Comte’s interest in working within a range of media and materials, orchestrating different elements in to a unified whole. The Queen of the Volcano’s form is at once feminine and masculine. Fired inEurope’s largest kiln for over a month, the glaze is both glossy and crackled.

Whilst the exhibition illustrated her concern with man’s callous behaviour towards nature, Comte’s installation was imbued with a sense of playfulness, humour and irreverence, energised by sound and a series of performances.