Animal figure descriptions and ceramic applications in contemporary ceramic art

Humans and animals have been coexisting and living together from past to present. While the relationship between humans and animals depend on friendship from time to time, animals have also been hunted and consumed as nutritional source since the first existence of mankind. With the emergence of art, it has been observed that animal is the most common subject that artists have preferred to transfer to art from the early past to present.The dominance of animal presence both in drawings made on cave walls and in sculptures is highly felt. Animal figures appear as adornments carved on an amphora or a pot or they sometimes appear as a three dimensional figurative sculpture. The use of animal figure in modern ceramic art has a long history. When the place of ceramic is examined in this area, what is seen is that it has evolved into sculpture. The product which was first made only as an object for personal use and later as an industrial product and a gift has gained an artistic dimension together along with the industrial side. There has always been a message that an artist wants to convey to the viewer in the works that have been created. Some artists prefer to use animal figures to convey their messages. While some artists apply these animal figures in a realistic way, some others work without remaining closely tied to the anatomy of an animal and some others merge human and animal and have different interpretations in their works of art. In this thesis, a thorough literature review has been made regarding the use of animal figure. According to the information obtained, the place and the importance of animal figure use is conveyed through historical examples. Samples of ceramic artists who work on animal figure are presented. In the final part, what makes up the subject of the practice part is humans' and animals' sharing the same habitat starting from early times, domestication and humanization of some animals today and patterns of behaviour against animal nature. Key Words Ceramic, Animal, Figure, Ceramic Animal Figure