Opening Lines On Dating Apps With Pictures Of Carbs: Hi Cutie
EV2 Sportswear Award – $2,000 Acquisitive
Bonnie Hislop
Opening Lines On Dating Apps With Pictures Of Carbs: Hi Cutie 2022
Ceramic, glazes, lustre
31.5 x 12 x 19 cm
About the Artwork
This series of vessels is a satirical first-hand interpretation of the often comical and frustrating experience that is online dating. Bonnie references Marie Antoinette in both form and use of the decorative cake motif. The connection to the quote ‘Let them eat cake’ insinuates a certain sense of apathy in the approach to the works. Each one features a (paraphrased) ‘opening line’ received by the artist on an online dating app from a prospective suitor. She reduces the opening lines from the bold offering of wit and charm with which they are intending to infer the phrases are being directed to the cakes themselves. This further implies they are cute or saccharine, appealing on the surface, a sweet comforting treat, yet unnecessary and not particularly satisfying or sustaining. In this way she questions these apps and this specific example of the evolution and continuation of the ‘pick-up line’.
About the Artist
Bonnie Hislop is a Meanjin based ceramicist specialising in hand building and ceramic illustration. Grounded in technical skill, her practice has evolved from creating illustrative functional ware to large scale sculptural vessels. Bonnie uses her forms to critically engage with the world around her and documents the human experience. Working from her studio in Yeerongpilly, Bonnie meticulously hand crafts her forms through an involved and often uncertain process that comes with working with this medium. She unites bright colours and satirical concepts to engage her audience in a dialogue with the physical world around them. Her work intersects traditional representations of ceramics with a craft aesthetic to create a contemporary interpretation of the ceramic medium. Her practice aims to encapsulate universal experiences of frustration, angst, grief, emotional fatigue as well as tenderness, intimacy and desire. The performative, brightly coloured ceramics forge an existence through joy and curiosity.
Judge’s Comments
Dianne Peach enjoyed the humorous, tongue in cheek, work by Bonnie Hislop. Dianne felt that ‘Hi Cutie’ was created using a very contemporary style, saying that the work touched on a topical subject whilst leaving a feel-good impression. Imitating wheel work in its form, the slight irregularity in the hand-built technique emphasised the work’s free form. The illustrated nature of the work engages the viewer, allowing them to read and appreciate the meaning behind it.