Read clearly as a kettle shape, Hot Pot is built from one dominant, kettle-like mass that feels both graphic and tactile. The “handle” is the long neck and head of a bird, rising from the right side and looping in a generous arc before tapering to a small, alert eye and a narrow beak. Opposite it, the “spout” becomes a second bird head, thrusting outward from the left edge, its open beak cutting a sharp notch into the silhouette.

The aquatint warmth is the literal and emotional centre of the image. A honeyed glow gathers inside the pot’s dark body, where golden yellow softens into smoke grey and then sinks into a dense black. Across this heated interior, the hatchlings appear as pale, streamlined silhouettes, light and buoyant, as if held up by the air itself. Their even spacing, and the small shifts in their angles, suggest a shared stillness and an expectant hunger.

The result is a work about shelter and sustenance, with the same reassuring pull as a comforting cup of tea, or a mother’s love for her young.