There's been some good feedback from No One Owns The Land, our installation in Brighton, as well as from State of Flux, the exhibition i'm taking part in in Ullapool. Here's a couple of reviews where our/my work is mentioned:
a-n, House Festival Review, A Big Deal for Visual Arts in Brighton
Something You Said, HOUSE 2014 Discusses Immigration
Ceramics Now, State of Flux Review
a-n, House Festival Review, A Big Deal for Visual Arts in Brighton
Something You Said, HOUSE 2014 Discusses Immigration
Ceramics Now, State of Flux Review
State of Flux
Exhibition Review
By Lesley Strachan
You might imagine an exhibition of purely ceramic work would
feature at least a dinner-service quota
of plates bowls and mugs. It is to the
credit of the curators of An Talla Solais' current exhibition 'State
of Flux' that the oft held conservative view of what we mean by 'ceramics' has been smartly
overturned. This is an exhibition
which boldly favours the
sculptural and conceptual over the functional.
The thing about producing artwork from clay is that it is
almost impossible to be pretentious. Somehow, no matter how contemporary or
challenging the concept, the fact that the artist is having to engage with the
very stuff of the earth beneath our feet (the same material which we use daily
to eat our food from and drink our tea out of )
results in artwork which has a familiarity we can trust and rely on. To
transform what is essentially mud into truly convincing and arresting art forms
takes experience , sensitivity and understanding for the material and however
interesting the concept the end result will fail to involve us if the
skill is lacking. Happily, many of the contemporary ceramicists whose work is
on display here have successfully brought craft and concept together .
Transformation, arguably the very soul of the ceramic
process, is something of a broader theme within this exhibition. Clay, that
most unremarkable of materials, is used to make the ordinary extraordinary.
What more everyday than a supermarket 'Value' chicken ? Cast in porcelain slip,
finished with a high-gloss transparent
glaze , then mounted on a wall beside 2 other identical chickens, Artur Van
Balen's surreal sculptures offer a
disturbing comment on factory farming
and the food industry. Kevin Morris (co-curator
of the exhibition) favours unglazed or dry-glazed surfaces and in a humorous twist his 'Dry Bathing'
ceramic bath sponges challenge our perceptions and help us appreciate familiar
objects with a fresh eye. I liked Morgane Deffense's 'Experiment' series. Again
, the artist challenges us to re-consider what we initially acknowledge as
mundane – in this case traditional
kitchen equipment , and through
manipulation of the casting process and subversion of multiple
forms her elegant and subtle pieces
invite us to consider ideas of loss and gain. At first glance Edina
Andrasi's finely worked bottles appear to be directly inspired
by Persian or Chinese lustre ware, however it is the unique ornamentation drawn directly from our digital world which
provides the surprise.
The ceramic process when fully exploited provides fascinating
opportunities for any artist interested in marrying surface and form. For me,
Nicola Henderson's geological themed series of bottle forms in stoneware clays
with fabulous lava glazes work superbly . Bubbling glazes of icy turquoise,
burnt umber -melting and pearlescent , cracked and crawling over perfectly balanced and delicate forms are perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing
of the exhibition . This is a ceramicist who
enjoys the alchemy of the process . Equally elemental are Fiona
Burne-Sutton's hand-built bowls in black
river clay with tactile surfaces of red
slip and impressed botanics while
spontaneity and playful manipulation
define Emma Pratt's interestingly conceived but somewhat underwhelming
colourful installation. Fine modelling skills are represented in Melanie Davies’ vessels and Tilly Gifford’s beautiful gannet pair. But for me , more intriguing and
thought -provoking is 'A Journey', the
skillfully constructed sculptural piece by Ester Svensson. This is an
immaculately modelled work, lovingly decorated , composed and conceived. I felt
myself getting lost in the multiple narratives offered up by the caravan of
transient, dislocated and trapped figures.
It is a vaguely melancholy yet beguiling piece – a reflection of our times.
As promised ,’ State of
Flux’ makes a convincing case for
the healthy state of creative ceramic
practice in Scotland today. Go and see
this exhibition and you will
never again define ceramics as
being rustic pots in various shades of brown. That image
has been well and truly transformed.
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