It’s a well-known technique: pressing plants or flowers in clay, highlighting the delicate petals, leaves, stems. The results will usually be pretty, poetic, not much more, but the way American artist Jaclyn Mednicov went about it during her EKWC residency – that’s a different story. The imprints of the plants are just that much deeper, the stems cutting into the clay, leaving tears, gaps; sometimes the vessels or cylinders break. The flowers from the press moulds are so pronounced, the reliefs so tangible; a black oxide glaze gives some of the pieces a fossilised appearance, opening up vast spaces of time. The work itself is physical: kneading, pressing, trying to keep things together. Even the white porcelain cylinders have something raw about them. Together with the transience of nature, Mednicov has captured a deeper need to hold on to something precious. Death is nearby – and so is intense beauty.