Bound Within
Denine Mark
Bound Within (detail) 2026
Stoneware
Stoneware glaze, underglaze and oxide
30 x 32 x 32 cm
About the Artwork
Bound Within represents the female body as a vessel of creation and transformation. While my daughter was pregnant with her first child, she experienced many emotions outside of the normal everyday feelings. The suspended words express the contrasting emotions experienced during her pregnancy, while the serpent flowing through the centre symbolises fertility, growth, and renewal. The connecting chains represent the shared experiences and bodily changes that bind women across cultures and generations, while the dark glaze signifies the mystery of new life, the unknown aspects that women experience, and the strength, resilience and endurance women embody throughout this profound journey. The glossy surface captures the light, suggesting hope and joy emerging from within darkness, as portrayed by the suspended words.
About the Artist
Discovering her love for pottery in high school, Denine Mark undertook ceramics classes again in 2024. Completing a Planning degree in 2023 gave her an appreciation of the materials used in clays and glazes; the history humans have with ceramics; and the environmental impact humans can have from mining these materials—therefore, she is very conscious in her recycling and wastage.
Denine works alongside her husband in Umbra Ignis Ceramics, where they create their own glazes, and fire in both reduction and oxidation gas atmospheres. Bound Within marks Denine’s first entry into a formal competition.