Rachel Grimshaw: Selected works, 2019-2023

My work is about the clay; its pliable, immediate qualities. Like a photograph capturing a ‘frozen moment,’ this material, when fired, fixes forever a gesture, an impression. In my unusual working method of using solid forms, I aim to achieve precision and fluidity, energy and stillness.

Hand building in both solid Parian porcelain and, separately, heavily grogged stoneware, marks are created by impressing found objects into the wet clay, their origins occasionally hinted at. Living in the North of England, the sculptural qualities of landscape find their way into my work; linear imprints referencing the lines of dry stone walls across the contours of a hillside. Some forms allude to the built environment but deliberately avoid explicit references. How the light interacts with a piece is an important factor in the presentation. Although my work has no prescribed narrative, there is a meditative quality, both in the physical making and in the finished piece. I value the function of contemplation my forms bring and their ability to represent the nature of silences.

I often work in twos or a small series of pieces, the mark-making connecting each piece. These work in a dialogue, reflecting, responding, and contradicting, like riffing on a theme.

The stoneware clay is coloured when wet with body stains and oxides, some in muted tones, others humming with intensity. The pieces are fired in an electric kiln over three days. In pushing the material to its limits, my wish is to explore three-dimensional shapes which seem to change from every angle while retaining a real sense of the qualities of clay.

Captions

• Timbral Variety, 2023, stoneware, 30cm high
• A Distillation of Echoes, 2020, stoneware, 14cm high x 67cm wide
• Black Interrupted, 2022, stoneware, 26cm high
• Blue Echo Pots, 2021, stoneware, 12cm high x 8cm wide
• Cadence, 2022, stoneware, 12cm high x 6cm wide
• Chronos + Kairos, 2020, stoneware, 36cm high
• Cloud Walking, 2019, stoneware, 25cm high
• Impromptu, 2021, stoneware, 31cm high
• Into Silence, 2021, stoneware, 30cm high
• Parian Quartet, 2022 Parian porcelain, 18cm high
• Paros Duo, 2022, Parian porcelain, 18cm high
• Pink Tower, 2020, stoneware, 28cm high
• Singular, 2020, stoneware, 14cm high x 21cm wide
• Spots of Time, 2022, stoneware, 27cm high

Kristina Okan: Selected works, 2022-2023

In my artistic practice, I manifest the process of decomposition as the formation of a new aesthetic form by turning withering fruits and vegetables into petrified miniature monuments. My porcelain works usually emerge from the notions of consumption, obsolescence and exploitation. Expressed by fragile decay aesthetics, my works question the idea of beauty itself with its obsessive idolization and ephemerality and, therefore, refer to the plasticity and emotional expression of Louise Bourgeois and Eva Hesse.

In my recent works, I am focused on rethinking the matter of time in the vanitas tradition. The stock thesis on the frailty of life, referable in my works, ascends to the tradition of the Dutch still lifes. I am fascinated by the symbolic system of the signification of XVI and XVII centuries still lifes, based on the Christian connotation of the ripe fruit as an image of the original sin, ephemerality of terrestrial life, and inevitable death. Nonetheless, my works are not about death; they are mostly about the beauty of the moment, representing organic metamorphosis and the imminence of fading as a novel value.

Photos by Marcos Rodriguez Velo

Captions

• Adhesion, 2022, porcelain, 8x11x10cm
• Adhesion, 2022, porcelain, 8x11x10cm and 11x18x16 cm
• Augmentation, 2023, porcelain, 19x11x10 cm
• Harvest, 2023, porcelain, 23x13x15 and 31x10x12 cm
• Harvest, 2023, porcelain, 31x10x12 cm
• Petrified Food, 2023, porcelain, glaze, 30x13x20 and 31x13x22 cm
• Petrified Food, 2023, porcelain, glaze, 30x13x20 cm
• Harvest, 2023, porcelain, 28x19x14, 23x13x15, 31x10x12 cm
• Harvest, 2023, porcelain, 31x10x12 cm
• Resistance, 2022, porcelain 14x20x15 and 17x26x16 cm
• Plexus, 2022, porcelain, 17x25x14cm

Tomoya Sakai: SPIRIT series, 2023

To leave the memories of mine, others, and times to future generations, I have expressed them with pottery wheel techniques and ceramics. How should I pass over the shapes of our memories far into the future? In the past, they were expressed in religious forms such as “god” and remained for generations. What is the “god” in today’s Japan? It may be seen in the present-day culture of manga, anime, or idols, which has influenced me too. Living in contemporary Japanese culture, which introduces various elements and evolves in its own way, I will create works that can be called “the guardian deity of memory” while incorporating “gods” from ancient and modern times. With the power of pottery, I will convey them to the distant future.

Captions

• SPIRIT series, 2023, installation view
• SPIRIT series KYODORA NO KAMI, 2023, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 40 x 26 x 47 cm
• SPIRIT series ROBOHA NO KAMI, 2023, stoneware, glaze, pigment
• SPIRIT series ABUKA NO KAMI, 2023, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 35 x 27 x 43 cm
• SPIRIT series AKUONI NO KAMI, 2023, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 48 x 41 x 68 cm
• SPIRIT series EBASEM NO KAMI, 2023, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 37 x 34 x 64 cm
• SPIRIT series HITODORA NO KAMI, 2023, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 40 x 30 x 42 cm
• SPIRIT series MIDORA NO KAMI, 2023, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 59 x 38 x 68 cm
• SPIRIT series NABO NO KAMI, 2023, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 31 x 24 x 40 cm
• SPIRIT series NEPOMI NO KAMI, 2023, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 34 x 24 x 46 cm
• SPIRIT series SORATO NO KAMI, 2023, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 44 x 24 x 46 cm

Tomoya Sakai: Heritage series, 2021-2024

The Heritage series is a group of works focusing on casual memories of other people. Memory is the evidence they have lived or their life itself. But their memories gradually disappear as they age and completely vanish when they die. I want to save those memories that will fade without being engraved in history.

In the ReCollection series, I have given shape to my unconscious memories using clay and a potter’s wheel. The shapes born like this have inspired viewers’ memories. In the Heritage series, I try to connect my works and viewers by applying this technique and making the memories of others three-dimensional.

I spend a lot of time listening to the memories of others and taking them in little by little. The fragments of those memories are abstracted through clay and a potter’s wheel and rebuilt to rise as three-dimensional objects. The works of memories born in this way inspire viewers’ memories, link past and present, and start to exist.

The fragments of memories baked through the rituals of firing can live for a very long time. I want to bring down the evidence that our loved ones have lived.

Captions

• Heritage series E.S 1955, 2021, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 34x13x24 cm
• Heritage series A.K 2003 Mistake, 2024, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 34x30x25 cm
• Heritage series E.S 1945, 2021, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 33x33x19 cm
• Heritage series E.S 1942 Gift, 2021, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 33x25x36 cm
• Heritage series E.S 1944 I want it., 2022, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 33x11x20 cm
• Heritage series E.S 1949 The first, 2022, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 15x15x26, 16 x 16 x 29 cm
• Heritage series E.S 1963 “Sad and angry”, 2021, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 33x20x35 cm
• Heritage series FAM 2023 Chupa chups, 2023, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 27x22x38 cm
• Heritage series H.K 2023 Trigger, 2024, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 32x11x32 cm
• Heritage series S.T 2023 I’m counting on you., 2024, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 32x29x24 cm
• Heritage series T.K 1999 Help, 2024, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 36x35x36 cm
• Heritage series T.K 1986 “SHIORI”, 2024, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 29x27x21 cm

Tomoya Sakai: ReCollection series, 2021-2023

We are exposed to endless daily information from various IT devices like the Internet and cellular phone networks. It implies that even important memories that form each person’s personality disappear, along with lots of information, into the unconscious realm.

When I throw pottery, I can separate myself from unnecessary information and concentrate on working as if I were meditating.
I create works, sorting out chaotic information and memories in my mind.

Thanks to the plasticity in clay, my works directly reflect my unconscious physical movement. Using the throwing technique and the clay material, I search for images hidden in the unconscious area and complete works, consciously reconstructing these images.

My works have multilayered images of scenes, information, animated shows, and movies I saw in the past. Everyone has these images, and I hope my works help them remember the links with their unconscious realm and bring back their important forgotten memories.

Captions

• ReCollection series “AMOYAYA”, 2022, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 20 x 30 x 24 cm
• ReCollection series “BAKIDAMATA”, 2022, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 31 x 17 x 20 cm
• ReCollection series “MOMOTEME”, 2022, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 14 x 7 x 21 c
• ReCollection series “DAMOPATOWA”, 2022, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 26 x 22 x 31 cm
• ReCollection series “AMATAPU”, 2023, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 12 x 12 x 14 cm
• ReCollection series “MOMETAME”, 2023, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 19 x 19 x 45 cm
• ReCollection series “MOTACHITO”, 2023, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 12 x 10 x 28 cm
• ReCollection series “SAGIAE”, 2022, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 9 x 9 x 21 cm
• ReCollection series “SATATO”, 2021, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 19 x 11 x 23 cm

Tomoya Sakai: Connection series, 2022-2023

The Connection series deals with current topics. As a lot of news goes around daily, it is not thought about deeply and disappears from our memories as someone else’s business. I cut out a part of the era shared by many people, as a person living in the modern age, and produce works that can be called the memory of our times. I keep our era firmly in my own memory through my production of works and have faced it many times. I want the viewers to use my works as media to remember our times and think about our complicated matters.

Captions

• Connection series, 2022-2023
• Connection series Destination, 2022, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 20 x 9 x 27 cm
• Connection series Encounter, 2022, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 20 x 8 x 22 cm”
• Connection series Island, 2023, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 24 x 16 x 24 cm
• Connection series Loss, 2022, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 30 x 10 x 25 cm
• Connection series Paradise, 2022, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 27 x 13 x 30 cm
• Connection series Protect, 2023, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 23 x 12 x 23 cm
• Connection series Regret, 2022, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 19 x 9 x 24 cm
• Connection series Silence, 2022, stoneware, glaze, pigment, 25 x 12 x 25 cm

Ines Rother: Selected works, 2021-2023

I create ceramic sculptures that are touched by looks and hands, that always show new aspects, make signs, are designated, are walked around, and are looked at from far and near.

Seemingly informal drawings become, on repeated viewing, memories of familiar forms without being permanent, in constant change. My works always offer fascinating signs and images for ever-changing fantasies.

With my works, I create sculptures and surfaces for ceramic painting and drawing, like white sheets and walls. The composition is still made on leather-hard clay, with incisions and engravings. Only after bisque firing at 900° are colored areas applied in layers, partially removed again, overlaid with other colors, and fired at 1,220°. This creates free, multi-layered, irregularly colored areas and fields of different perspectives.

Unsteady small parts, contrasted with large, calm color fields, always in light-dark gradients and often in cold, warm, and complementary contrasts. Linear structures are embedded in the upheaval of the color fields and lead the viewer across three-dimensional images. I create ceramic bodies that give meaning, beauty and context to space,

space to live,
space to animate and
space to experience.

Photos by Helge Articus

Captions

• Double Cone Object, 2023, Stoneware clay, Height 80 cm
• Object Bowl, 2023, Stoneware clay, Diameter approx. 60 cm
• Open Vessel Object, 2023, Stoneware clay, Height 64 cm
• Pilar, 2023, Stoneware clay, Height 90 cm
• Murals, 2022, Stoneware clay, each length 60 cm, wide 40 cm, deep 6 cm
• Small and Large Column, 2022, Stoneware clay, Height 90 and 75 cm

She Who Vomited Out Her Own Metals, 2023-Ongoing

“She who vomited out her own metals” is a phrase borrowed from Martin Howse’s opening essay in Becoming Geological. This strange and disquieting yellow book describes the work of the Tiny Mining community: a group of humans that attempt to extract metals from their own bodies, thus becoming both terrestrial appendage and exploitable resource. The Tiny Miners are inspired, in turn, by the kinetic philosophy contained in Thomas Nail’s Theory of the Earth. These texts and projects take a radically posthuman approach to rocks and minerals. Rocks and minerals are perhaps the last materials to which we give ecological consideration or in which we acknowledge historical agency. Yet, these texts argue, rocks and minerals take us far outside ourselves and our anthropocentrism: a reminder that our tenure on this planet is brief, and that all beings and materials—organic and inorganic—are mutating together, in a vast, entangled mesh. Ceramic is mineral. Ceramic is rock. My work is deeply inspired by artists and authors exploring geology from a soft point of view.

My previous body of work, NATURE TO THE DOGS, contained environmental ideas and metaphors that were in tension with one another: ideas of stasis, spirit, and immateriality were contrasted with ideas of mutability, decay, and phenomenology. The title itself is a composite of meaning: it suggests that ‘Nature’ is going to the dogs, while also saying that we should throw the very idea of ‘Nature’ (an idea premised on apartness, on purity) to the dogs. The phrase ‘going to the dogs’ also references collapse, disintegration, inter-speciesism, and biological hierarchies (‘dog’ suggesting subservience or filth).

I am now metabolizing the detritus, the tailings, the waste of this old work into something new. I am recycling. From a poetic standpoint, the meanings of NATURE TO THE DOGS are folded into this emerging body of work, but with additions and dislocations, new strata of meaning. Whereas the sculptures in NATURE TO THE DOGS primarily referenced biological forms (through the use of mineralized trees and fibers), these new bodies take a turn toward geology and the mutative, self-consuming processes of rock formation.

The kiln functions as a proxy for the bowels of the planet. Deep time processes of melting, densification and mineralization are sped up in a single firing. Rocks form: amalgamates of fused, undifferentiated material, their slow transformation a result of millions of years of weathering, heat, compaction. To borrow philosopher Timothy Morton’s words, a rock is a “strange stranger”: emissary from worlds unknowable to us. These ideas become all the more poignant in light of attempts to rename our current geologic epoch—the Anthropocene—the vast terraforming and anthroturbation these new names imply, as well as that contemporary ceramics is very much the product of human systems of mineralogical extraction, distribution, and deposition.

NATURE TO THE DOGS, Artist book, 2023

This artist book was produced together with the NATURE TO THE DOGS exhibition at Alfred University. Through visual poetry as well as poetic, narrative, and academic writing, this book explores the theoretical matrices of the show. These matrices grew out of the sculptures like so many Lichtenberg figures: the more I thought about them, the more uncontrollable they became.

NATURE TO THE DOGS is, in many ways, a story about models of the Earth. It is a story about density: the mutating solid of the planet, the ethereal vapor of the sky. In place of authority, linearity, and resolution, this book offers an open web of associations. Just as ecological thought is inherently prismatic, branching, and tentacular, so too is NATURE TO THE DOGS.

The NATURE TO THE DOGS artist book was submitted to the Scholes Library MFA Collection in lieu of the standard blue booklet. You can access a free, low-resolution PDF of this book through a link on my website.

NATURE TO THE DOGS is part of the Neo-Mineralia Library collection.

NATURE TO THE DOGS, 2023

Berenice Hernández: Selected works, 2018-2023

In Berenice Hernández’s work, the act of constructing and deconstructing is fundamental. It starts with layers of clay that she methodically turns into large blocks. She then cuts the blocks into smaller pieces. Sometimes, the cuts are clean and precise; other times, they are crude, resulting in blocks that crumble into fragments. She then uses the blocks as a library of materials for her sculptures, ready to be used in a never-ending cycle of building, deconstruction and rebuilding.

An important part of her practice is the idea that solidity is illusory. Everything shifts. Her sculptures are as much about the cracks, the broken lines, and the flakes that fall off as they are about the structures themselves. For her, what is lost is as present as what remains. Her work then becomes an architecture of what was, what might have been, and what is.

Captions

• Det obevakade ögonblicket, 2022, porcelain, stoneware, glaze, kiln shelf, 28 x 13 x 27 cm
• Forms of departure I, 2023, glaze and stoneware, 8 x 19 x 8 cm
• Forms of departure II, 2023, glaze and stoneware, 20 x 14.5 x 4 cm
• Tiden gick in…, 2022, porcelain, stoneware, glaze, 16 x 27 x 16 cm
• Återsken, 2021, porcelain, stoneware, wood, glaze, 58 x 14.5 x 20 cm
• Circular, 2019, porcelain, stoneware, 20.5 x 14.5 x 12 cm
• Fault line, 2018, Stoneware and porcelain. 18.5 x 15 x 8.5 cm
• Measures of the void, 2021, porcelain, stain, 17.5 x 32 x 29 cm
• Observations on the means to carry on I, 2019, stoneware, 14 x 40 x 7.5 cm
• Station I, 2018, porcelain and stoneware, 13 x 22 x 3.5 cm
• Station II, 2018, porcelain and stoneware, 13 x 22 x 3.5 cm
• Observations on the means to carry on III, 2019, porcelain 24 x 16.5 x 8 cm
• The opening window, 2020, porcelain and plaster, 34 x 24.5 x 7 cm
• Till knappheten, 2021, porcelain, stains, glaze, 40 x 38 x 14 cm
• Tingens frånvaro, 2022, stoneware, glaze, 19.5 x 7 x 1.5 cm
• Untitled Installation, 2018, porcelain and stoneware, 110 x 50 x 60 cm
• Untitled, 2018, stoneware and porcelain, 27.5 x 17 x 8.5 cm

Jan 06, 2006

On January 6th, 2006, I arrived in America at the age of twenty with two large suitcases, seeking better art education opportunities as a young artist. Over the past 18 years, I have lived in six different states and moved 15 times within the US.

Living far from my home country and family was definitely challenging. Learning a new language and adjusting to a new culture was both exciting and difficult. Despite these challenges, I have no regrets about starting a new chapter of my 20s in a new country. Without this experience, I would not have grown into the person I am today.

“Jan 06, 2006” depicts my own image of the day I arrived in America. I am wearing a traditional dress, a Hanbok (한복), and dragging a luggage full of the most Korean traits I carried with me, such as Korean traditional pottery, paint brushes, kimchi, and our national flower, Mu Goong Hwa(무궁화). Next to me, my guardian dog, AJ, is following me.

Jan 06, 2006, 2023, Stoneware underglaze, glaze, resin, paint, Figure: 19.5”(H)x13”x9”, Dog: 5.5”(H)x8”x2.5”

How have you been? / Introspection

We have all faced a challenging time in the past three years that has affected us differently. The COVID-19 pandemic, racial conflicts, wars, and political divisions have constantly tested our emotional resilience and left us feeling overwhelmed. As a result, many of us have reevaluated our priorities and made changes to our lives.

I would like to ask you a question: What did you miss the most during this difficult period? For me, the things I missed the most were genuine human connections, emotional intimacy, and physical touch. As an artist who works with clay, I found sculpting ceramic figures that resemble humans, and the tactile process of working with clay helped me maintain my sanity during this tough time.

“How Have You Been?/ Introspection” is a self-reflective piece that expresses my feelings, which many people can relate to during the COVID-19 pandemic.

How have you been? / Introspection, 2022, Stoneware, underglaze, glaze, gold luster, 58”(H)x 24”x22”. Image credit: John Carlano

Meltdown

“Meltdown” is inspired by one of the famous social media memes: “Be like a Panda: Destroy Racism. Be Like a Panda.He/she/they is Black. He/she/they is White. He/she/they is Asian.”The sculpture reflects my experiences as an Asian immigrant in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, numerous racist attacks towards AAPI individuals have occurred, making me realize that, to some, I may always be perceived as an outsider. Nevertheless, I still consider America my new home, and the support from my newfound family and friends has also been a source of strength during these challenging times. Their encouragement has not only motivated me to create artwork addressing issues of racism and inequality in this country but has also reinforced my belief in collective action. I recognize that prejudice exists within all of us, and by acknowledging our own flaws and fostering mutual understanding, we can contribute to creating a more harmonious world.

Meltdown, 2021, Stoneware, underglaze, glaze, 12.5”(H)x8.5”x7”

2020 Frustration

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused chaos and uncertainty around the world. Lockdowns became the new normal, forcing everyone to adapt to this unrealistic reality. To reflect on the frustrations of this shared experience, I created a sculpture featuring two figures that represent the range of emotions people felt, including anger, madness, sadness, and frustration.

The straight lines on the amorphous form in the sculpture symbolize the rules and norms that existed before the pandemic. In contrast, the melted glazes represent the emotional breakdowns experienced by individuals and society as a whole.

Through this sculpture, I express the complex emotional landscape that was affected by the unpredictable upheaval of the year 2020.

2020 Frustration, 2020, Porcelain, underglaze, glaze, 20”(H)x14”x9”

Hello, My name is Gina Park

Before the invention of Hangeul, Koreans used Chinese characters as their writing system. Even today, Chinese characters have a significant influence on Korean culture, particularly in baby naming. Korean parents choose a name for their baby based on the underlying meanings of Chinese characters. My name, Kyungmin, represents “strong water drop. “It symbolizes water’s persistence and ability to carve a new path, even through rocks, to reach its destination over time.

Pronouncing Korean names can be challenging for non-Koreans. That is why some Koreans may use a “Westernized” version of their name. When I moved to the U.S., someone asked if I had an “American name.” I was puzzled at first, but then I remembered my Catholic confirmation name, “Gina.” Since then, “Gina Park” has become my second name in America. I use it when I don’t feel like spelling out my entire name, such as at a coffee shop. However, “Gina Park” has never been my real name.

Hello, My name is Gina Park, 2021, Stoneware, underglaze, glaze, 23”(H)x 11”x10”

One Bite at a Time

The phrase “One Bite at a Time” is a metaphor that signifies the idea of facing challenges by breaking them down into smaller and more manageable components. The artwork reflects my journey as an artist in dealing with complex situations, particularly in these uncertain times. The piece captures the essence of finding optimism amidst uncertainty and maintaining productivity by taking one step at a time. It explores self-discovery and resilience, highlighting the transformative power of steady progress. As an artist, I have simplified my approach in these unique circumstances, and “One Bite at a Time” serves as a reminder of the strength of perseverance and the ability to overcome challenges incrementally.

One Bite at a Time, 2021, Stoneware, underglaze, glaze, 13.5”(H)x9”x9”

Apple Town

Apple = 사과 (in Korean) = Apology/ About Community.

Apple Town, 2022, Porcelain, underglaze, glaze, 7.5”(H)x20”x10”

Mug series of “Emotional Support Art”

Each mug has a facial expression that exhibits the emotions we all experience yet sometimes struggle to contain or manage. Yet, each mug, in the moment, contains what you need.

Mug series of “Emotional Support Art”, 2022, Porcelain, underglaze, glaze, 5.5”(H)x6”x5” (each)
Emotional support mug (detail), 2022, Porcelain, underglaze, glaze, 5.5”(H)x6”x5” (each)

You and Me

This work celebrates my special bond and strong relationship with my beloved dog, AJ. Over the past 14 years, we have shared many moments that have strengthened our connection beyond measure. Having a pet is more than just companionship; they offer unconditional love, support, and a sense of responsibility. Their non-judgmental and accepting presence can also be therapeutic and comforting.

You and Me, 2023, Stoneware, underglaze, glaze, acrylic rods, resin, 20”(H)x20”x13”

Rained on

“Rained On” depicts a moment of vulnerability and acceptance. The figure leans backward gracefully, embracing the raindrops falling from above. This gesture symbolizes my own journey and the acceptance of my existence on Earth. Each raindrop represents different aspects of my heritage, the hardships I have endured, and the blessings I have received. Together, they reflect the transformative nature of these experiences.

The sculpture invites viewers to contemplate the beauty of embracing the diverse influences that shape our identities. It offers a visual narrative of growth, transformation, and universal resilience, inviting us to acknowledge the power of accepting ourselves and others.

Rained on, 2019, Stoneware, glaze, paint, fishing wire, 44”(H)x30”x25”

Inheritance

Inheritance that shaped us.

(*”Rained On” and “Inheritance” sculptures are part of the same series.)

Inheritance, 2018, Stoneware, glaze, gold-plated, paint, 22”(H)x20”x14”

Kensuke Yamada: Selected works, 2021-2024

I moved to the United States from Japan a little over 20 years ago as a foreign exchange student. My story begins with the limited knowledge of the English language I came here with. My primary commonality with other people and my surroundings was human gestures: facial expressions, body motions, the darting of a hand, or the blinking of an eye.

In my struggle to learn the language and communicate through speech, I gained a strong empathy for the universal experiences that seem to provide the undercurrent to language through art. I gained awareness of the complexities of our daily functions and the social infrastructures that subtly guide these interactions.

In my sculpture, I seek figurative extensions of these shared experiences. The vocabulary consists of gestures, patterns, textures, colors and rhythms. In conversation, these qualities bring the figure to life.

With clay, I look for sculptural conversations that evoke the beauty, the subtleties, the sadness, and the humor of our everyday life. Viewing my sculpture, I hope people enjoy the moment, rather than the movement of time. I hope for my work to fill the space between two seemingly distant things, to provide a connection and thus create the story of you and me.

Captions

• Nikochan Daiō, 2023, Ceramics, Mixed media, 42″Hx30″Wx20″DP
• Who is the monster, 2024, Ceramics, 43H” x 21W” x 10″DP
• Head, 2023, Ceramics, 11.5″Hx8″Wx7″DP
• As I am you will be, 2021, Ceramics, 35″Hx13″Wx13″DP
• Astro boy, 2023, Ceramics, Ceramics, 51″Hx14″Wx15″DP
• Head, 2023, Ceramics, 15″Hx13″Wx12″DP
• Doggo, 2023, Ceramics, 25″Hx17″Wx16″DP
• Girl, 2023, Ceramics, 43″Hx24″Wx14″DP
• I wish to always be there for you, 2023, Ceramics, 39″Hx 27″W x 16″DP
• Brat, 2022, Ceramics, 45″Hx19″Wx12″DP
• My mind & Me, 2022, Ceramics, Mixed media, 42.5″H x 21″W x 8″DP
• Arm Strong, 2022, Ceramics, 41.5″Hx25″Wx1-.5″DP
• Arm Strong, 2022, Ceramics, 42.5″H x 25″W x 9″DP
• I forgot I have friends, 2022, Ceramics, 45″Hx23″Wx12″DP
• Mickey mouse Me, 2021, Ceramics, 23.5″Hx15″Wx13″DP
• Cat, 2022, Ceramics, 53”H x 24”W x 21”DP
• You and Me, 2022, Ceramics, 50″Hx18″Wx11″DP
• NAH-NAH-NAH, 2021, Ceramics, 38.5″Hx16″Wx11″DP
• Head, 2022, Ceramics, 22.5”Hx18”Wx16”DP

Jacaranda Kori: Becoming Plastic, 2022

The exhibition “Becoming Plastic: From Nature to Waste” is Jacaranda Kori’s latest installation consisting of 27 ceramic objects making homage to the Mexican culture (Kori’s birth place) and the typical piñata. Suspended from the ceiling between heaven and earth, ceiling and floor, giving a sense of floating or the possibility of looking at the hovering objects from an underwater viewpoint, enabling a disengagement from the existential and mundane, for the sake of focusing on the understanding of human existence. The installation engages with the dystopic processes that the planet is experiencing in the Anthropocene. From a world of hope and desire for progress, to the realization over the past few years of the great tragedy of Earth: the fossil fuel emissions, air pollution and the plastic industry – are the biggest and toughest polluters of the natural environment, which will eventually destroy the delicate balance on our planet.

The concept “Becoming Plastic” is inspired by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s writings, placing particular emphasis on the term becoming in their philosophy, a concept that indicates the extent that Deleuze and Guattari believed in process and continuous change: no being is fixed, no position is stable. All things are in a constant flux of transformation, and these shifts are what they termed becoming: the changes each time led to a new state of existence. For them, altering is the essence of human and natural existence, emphasizing the perpetual motion of diversifying, repetition, and the creation of differences – an integral part of the principles of existence, popular art and folklore.

Plastic, in many ways, is the antithesis of ceramic: where ceramic is a material and technique that attracts many people in the past few years, expressing a desire to return to the old world of human proportion, natural and nostalgic, as opposed to the world that operates at an inhuman pace, which is too fast. With a longing for working with one’s hands and the use of natural materials, working and creating simple vessels and containers (mostly), Kori inverses the process, and appropriates the ceramic in a cruel way, to become plastic. She does not spare us and is not part of the “back to nature” type of festivities, Kori uses the clay and makes it become what we will all become: plastic. This is a dystopic attitude, which manifests the process of loss in which we live, and the potential destruction encompassed in each move we make. Becoming Plastic works against the popular image and assumption of the qualities and purpose of ceramic. Turning ceramic into plastic using various plastic accessories to create casts or physical parts – is the guideline for Kori’s actions. The transition from the warmth of ceramic to the chill of plastic, from the grey earthiness of the clay to the luminous colors of the coated plastic, could have become a celebration of color, however, within the context of Kori’s endeavor, it becomes a toxic experience, of poisons spilling into the environment. The combination of cast clay, perishable techniques, peeling shiny colors, plastic containers as the mold and parts remaining – are at the heart of Kori’s oeuvre.

Text by curator Ayelet Zohar, PhD

Exhibition at the Benyamini Contemporary Ceramics Center’s Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel

Photos by Dor Kedmi

Captions

• Becoming plastic, 2022, 27 piece Ceramic Installation, exhibition view at Benyamini Contemporary Ceramics Center’s Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
• Octopus, 2022, Stoneware, Porcelain slip with stains, Acrylic paint, 30×30×35cm
• Sepa la Bola, 2022, Stoneware, Porcelain slip with stains, Nail polish, Acrylic paint, 24×24×24 cm
• Fish, 2022, Stoneware, Porcelain slip with stains, Acrylic paint, 18×25×31 cm
• Horse, 2022, Stoneware, Porcelain slip with stains and glaze, Acrylic paint, 45×25×47 cm
• Piñata with Tits, 2022, Stoneware with glazes, 47×47×47 cm
• Chameleon, 2022, Stoneware, Porcelain slip with stains and glaze, Acrylic paint, 22×26×40 cm
• Chameleon (detail), 2022, Stoneware, Porcelain slip with stains
• Butterfly and Pillows, 2022, Stoneware with glaze, Acrylic paint, 22×25×20 cm
• Becoming plastic, 2022, installation view
• Siren, 2022, Stoneware, Porcelain slip with stains and glaze, Acrylic paint, 32×23×35 cm
• Orgasm, 2022, Stoneware with glaze, 52×16×50 cm
• Jelly fish, 2022, Stoneware with glaze, Acrylic paint, 62×43×43 cm
• Lion of Zion, 2022, Stoneware, Porcelain slip with stains and glaze, Acrylic paint, 49×25×47 cm
• Pinguin, 2022, Stoneware, Porcelain slip with stains and glaze, Acrylic paint, 53×25×42 cm
• Clam, 2022, Earthenware and glaze, Acrylic paint, 25×25×25 cm
• Porcupine, 2022, Stoneware, and glaze, Acrylic paint, 27×25×27 cm
• Luchadora, 2022, Stoneware, Porcelain slip with stains, Acrylic paint, 53×22×68 cm
• Sea Horse, 2022, Earthenware with glaze, Acrylic paint, 42×18×18 cm

Maria Diletta Rondoni: Selected works, 2021-2023

My works take shape through the rhythmic motion of repeated movements that absorb me in a slow creative flow. The starting point is always the vase, as an empty object ready to contain and be contained within everyday life.

I use few tools, sometimes only my fingertips, through the basic process of pinch and coil construction, an original and primitive technique that transports me directly into a timeless dimension. I love paying attention to detail and creating my own palette of pigmented clays, thinking of my work as a three-dimensional painting.

The metamorphosis and permutation of nature is where I take my inspiration, observing its movements and changes, its strength and fragility, trying to give voice to its sensual power as the origin of life.

The vase is despoiled of its functional appearance to create a kind of imaginary, fantastic and corporeal herbarium.

Captions

• Multifolia Variegata I, 2023, porcelain, pigments, glaze, 25x25x28 cm.
• Multifolia Rosa, 2023, porcelain, pigments, glaze, 20x20x19 cm.
• Gemma – Blue bud, 2022, porcelain, pigments, 16x7x29 cm.
• Gemma – Green bud, 2022, porcelain, pigments, 18x18x36 cm.
• Gemma – Red and blue bud, 2022, porcelain, pigments, glaze, 25x25x28 cm.
• Passion fruit – Red, 2022, terracotta, brown earthenware, glaze, 16x16x15 cm.
• Passion fruit – Rose, 2022, earthenware, pigments, glaze, 20x14x14 cm.
• Passion fruit – Yellow, 2022, earthenware, pigments, glaze, 19x14x13 cm.
• Finger lemon and little passion fruit, 2021-22, porcelain, glass, soda wood firing, terracotta, glaze, 4x4x20 cm and 4x4x12,4 cm.
• Multifolia Variegata II, 2023, porcelain, pigments, glaze, 16x17x36 cm.
• Flora Danica / Phacelia Flower, 2021, stoneware, pigments, glaze, 26x25x46 cm.
• Flora Danica / Pink Lupinus, 2021, stoneware, pigments, glaze, 40x40x80 cm.
• Crisantemo, 2022, stoneware, pigments, glaze, 40x40x26 cm.
• Grande Frutto, 2022, stoneware, pigments, glaze, 39x25x41 cm.
• Lupinus Blue, 2022, earthenware, pigments, glaze, 13x13x23 cm
• Tulip, 2022, stoneware, engobes, glaze, 26x28x35 cm.
• Lupinus Yellow, 2022, earthenware, pigments, glaze, 15x15x28 cm

Les horizons marqueurs, 2022-2023

Hands that collect, manipulate, display, assemble, hold: so many evocations of the gestures that permitted this vast project to take form. In the course of her research, Amélie Proulx meticulously selected, ground, crushed or pulverized hundreds of rocks and minerals in order to integrate them into her porcelain and explore the possibilities of firing them. The colours, textures and shapes that resulted then allowed her to enrich the already profoundly material experience of ceramics, making Nature at once the subject and object of her work.

Anne-Sophie Blanchet, art historian

Les horizons marqueurs, 2022-2023, porcelain, glaze, fired rocks and minerals, series of 50 hands approximately 8 x 8 x 8 inches each, photo credit: Guy L’Heureux

Les Cendres D’Une Montagne (The Ashes of a Mountain), 2022

Seizing time that passes: this is what the video Les cendres d’une montagne (“The Ashes of a Mountain”) offers us. Through experimentation, Amélie Proulx discovered that certain rocks metamorphose in a radical way when they are subjected to extremely high temperatures. Some change their colour or vitrify, while others, like this one, pulverize themselves several hours later. The artist thus accelerates a phenomenon that would have been spread out over hundreds, even thousands of years. However, beyond these experimental and technical considerations, the video is perhaps above all an invitation to contemplation and recollection. With gentleness and poetry, Amélie calls into question what we might have believed to be eternal … even the immutable does not seem to escape the work of time.

Anne-Sophie Blanchet, art historian

Les cendres d’une montagne, 2022, video, 5 :40. Photo credits for the installation stills : Guy L’Heureux

Amélie Proulx: Les eaux composées, 2020

Les eaux composées presents a series a nine low-relief tondos made of ceramics. The installation unfolds across the intervention wall facing the waiting room of the new MRI department at the Hôpital de Montmagny. Each tondo is framed with an aluminum ring, cut to follow the relief of the ceramic piece. Each relief was created with 3D-modelling software to represent a patch of moving water from the St. Lawrence River. Through different technological manipulations, this material, evoking fluidity and the passage of time, was fixed in the ceramic material. A glossy and transparent glaze was used on each tondo, with the amount of pigment varying in order to evoke different possible colours of water, from a light blue to a deep blue-green. The glossiness and transparency of the glaze evoke especially the fluidity of water and also accentuate the reliefs and textures of each tondo.

Oscillating between the near and the far, the inside and the outside, the installation opens onto a horizon that, perhaps paradoxically, is apprehended in an intimate relationship with the landscape. This installation thus evokes the possible movements of a fluid material fixed in time, as if fragments of waves had been extracted from the St. Lawrence River and fossilized in the ceramic material.

Les eaux composées, 2020, ceramics, glaze, painted aluminum, hardware, 9 tondos of 21 inches in diameter each, photo credit: Étienne Dionne