Cup of Comfort
Shantel Gilmore
Master of Architecture Monash University
“Home is more than an intuition. Home is to feel; to understand. Home is an all-encompassing sanctuary graced by the texture of familiarity and comfort.”
MATERIALS: clay
Artist Statement
Home transcends the physical boundaries of walls and roofs; it is a profound sense of belonging and connection, a sanctuary that offers safety and roots those in moments, people and places of comfort. Home is to feel – where the sensory rhythm of Country, its unspoken gestures and subtle cues resonate deeply.
Country is not separate from Home but intrinsic to it; Home is felt through a mosaic of Country’s textures, sounds, and cycles, offering shared memories and individual experiences that ground us in the present. It is where we feel understood, valued, and accepted - a literal or metaphorical refuge. Home’s familiarity teaches us to embrace the ebb and flow of life with humility and gratitude, holding space for calm, chaos, and everything in between. It serves as both a compass and a map, guiding us on how to navigate uncertainties, how to remember, and how to return to oneself.
Synopsis
A simple cup, often overlooked, carries meaning. Its chips, stains and imperfections record interaction, reinforcing the idea that Home is an evolving feeling of comfort, routine, and familiarity. Its form and function transcend the mundane. Each use - whether a sip of tea, coffee, or water - prompts an intimate ritual, grounding us through movement and care.
My Living Belonging abstracts a cup’s form through three components: the Base, the Bulb, and the Basin. The Base offers stability, anchoring the cup to Country. The Bulb is a swelling chamber, symbolising a repository of conversations and gestures that shape Home. The Basin, defined by its negative space, realises the cup’s purpose through what it holds, representing the accumulation of wisdom and lived experience as Home matures.
Clay maintains an intrinsic connection to the land - it carries traces of its origin, moulded by time, water, and human touch. The craftsmanship of my Living Belonging is marked by the impression of fingerprints and tells stories of the maker and the gifts of Country. I engaged in a reciprocal process of making and being made, utilising water as a co-creator. By immersing clay in water - mimicking the cascade of a shower, the stillness of a lake, or full submersion in the ocean - the material softened, released, and reconnected. Here, water is a catalyst, allowing the clay to recalibrate, mirroring my own emotional tides when allowing water to wash away tension and creating a sense of clarity. Water imparts a lesson to surrender and breathe, a source of cleansing, renewal, and repose.
Through my Living Belonging, I invite others to reconsider Home beyond its physical manifestation, as a dynamic relationship to Country. The Living Belonging encourages reflection on how we feel, navigate, and return - physically, emotionally, and spiritually - to ourselves.
