From Ash to Glaze | Yasmin Smith | Seine River Basin, 2019 

Filmed at the Paramatta Artists' Studios in Rydalmere, New South Wales, Yasmin Smith shares the thinking and process behind her installation 'Seine River Basin' (2019) in the MCA Collection, which was commissioned for 'Cosmopolis #2: Rethinking the Human' at the Centre Pompidou. Smith’s work reveals the unique chemical traces in the environment through sculptural forms that reflect the history, ecology and geology of specific sites.
For 'Seine River Basin', she made moulds out of tree branches collected from the River Seine, River Marne and Saint-Denis Canal, to produce ceramic replicas, each applied with glazes made from the ashes of the particular wood. The varying wood ash glazes and the colours and finishes they produce represent the range of different elements in the landscape - some naturally occurring, others introduced into the environment through human, industrial and cultural activity. Presented as part of the exhibition 'MCA Collection: Perspectives on place'.