Hedorah Amphora - Sculpture

The piece is in 2 parts: the main body of the vase and the head, or lid.

Ceramics
Approx. 11" x 8" x 15.5"

Gage Michael Wheatley is a queer artist based in Tiohtià:ke / Montreal. Working primarily in ceramics, Gage draws inspiration from cartoons, toys, and a deep connection to the natural world, where he approaches nostalgia as a mode of reflection and relationship rather than a fixed past. By recreating and reworking familiar forms, he examines how queer identity is shaped through play and how meaning accumulates over time.

Statement: My practice is rooted in making as a mode of thought. I use ceramics as a form of parallel inquiry into identity, attachment, and care. I am interested in how childhood objects and concepts serve as primary materials through which we understand ourselves. For queer children, these objects often offer a sense of recognition or comfort even before a formal language of identity exists.

By recreating these familiar forms in clay, I reclaim them as sites of devotion. My work establishes a link between the contemporary nostalgia for play and the age-old tradition of the vessel. I treat the ceramic form as a container, both literal and metaphorical, for memory, thus elevating everyday symbols to the status of objects of reverence. Drawing on my background in archaeology, I am attentive to how meaning accumulates over time through the suggestion of use and the presence of fragility. Through scale and surface, I explore how personal stories can be carried and passed on. Ultimately, my work seeks to transform the ephemeral past into physical anchors for a queer present.