Honouring the Unseen

While memorials are traditionally reserved for the human world, Monsoon turns her attention to the foundational architects of life: bacteria and fungi. The exhibition features a body of new ceramic works that serve as physical monuments to the invisible organisms that sustain our ecosystems, our bodies, and our food systems.

Part of the collection focuses on the life of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (common yeast), alongside a study of the wild, invisible microbes collected from our natural environment. Monsoon explores the long history between humans and these tiny organisms, bringing biology and art together through ancient ceramic firing techniques. By matching the heat of the kiln with the natural energy of living cells, she turns short-lived bacteria into permanent ceramic objects.

The Laboratory as Studio: Ancient Obvara Meets Modern Science

The exhibition moves away from traditional pottery by bringing laboratory methods into the ceramic studio. A key part of the work uses Obvara, a 12th-century firing technique that involves a fermented mixture of yeast and flour.

Monsoon has adapted this ancient craft by experimenting with microbes collected from sea water, marsh water, iron-rich springs, and local soil. By dipping 850°C clay into these different microbial cultures, the artist captures a "biological fingerprint" of the environment. The resulting patterns on the clay are a permanent record of how the minerals in the water and the heat of the kiln react together.