Plastic works of art are concrete realities that present themselves to visual perception. The art object as a concrete entity requires some mental activities in its transformation into meaning. These activities require the processes of determining the similarity and difference characteristics of the visible object and making associations that will enable the formation of the context in this direction. The formation of meaning is shaped through the expression of both the artist during the production of the art object and the interpreter during the viewing of the produced object. This expression is under the influence of the spirit of the time in which we live. Cultural habits, social and economic conditions affect both the formation of the object and its expression in language. Today, it can be said that such expressive habits are mostly related to the tendency to think metaphorically. Metaphor, which can be defined as thinking one thing through another, is one of the foundations of mental activities. Metaphor works as a factor that diversifies meaning and increases the impact of meaning as experience. Due to all these mental processes, the art object is placed in an area where it can be characterized as a visual metaphor. This metaphorical space is an environment of existence that opens the artist and the viewer to experience. The art object is included in metaphorical processes through the artist's intention, regarding artist’s work during the production phase, the material artist’s creates own work with, how artist’s expresses work in form, how artist’s exhibits it and artist’s interpretation of own work. For the viewer, the object is involved in metaphorical processes through the filter of its own mental activities within the scope of the material it is created from, the form of the object, the relationship of the object with space and the context expressed by the artist about the object. By comprehending, interpreting and expressing the object within the scope of these metaphorical processes, an environment of meaning that enriches comprehension is created by going beyond the art object. Therefore, the art object as a concept comes to the fore and at the same time, discursive and objective analysis of the art object is enabled. Within the scope of this study, the processes related to metaphor as a mental activity will be briefly mentioned, the positioning of the art object as a visual metaphor and in this context, some works of ceramic artist Ray Chen in the “Mother and Child” series will be examined.
Keywords: Art, metaphor, visual metaphors, ceramic, concept, object