monday morning eye candy: Manos Kalamenios

by Carole Epp | Mar 18, 2013 | call for entry, emerging artist, job posting, monday morning eye candy, movie day, residency opportunity, show us your influences, technical tuesday

Artist Statement

Clay as a material itself is soil and if you
were to step in it with your boots the first thing you would do is to
wash it off, but by transforming this mud through the ceramic process,
it’s inherent value forces us to stop and pay attention. By exploiting
the possibilities of a material I always try to find or release the
hidden beauty from something that may normally be overlooked.

It
is very difficult these days to create something unique and innovative,
so by using the ‘usual’ in an unusual way I hope to make people see
ordinary objects in a different light.

I am driven by a force to
create, innovate and experiment. I see my work pushing and challenging
the perceived boundaries of creative processes, techniques and
materials.

I always try to use unconventional materials and tools
in an unexpected way or try to push the boundaries of that material or
tool’s properties, and stretch its potential to the next level. By doing
this I always find something new which drives me further. For instance,
prior to my studies, I worked as a chef and I sometimes bring this
previous experience and its tools into my ceramics.

I try to keep my work as minimal as possible. I believe less is more.

I
love the purity and the translucence of bone china and much of my
recent work centres on this. In my degree exhibition I married the
ancient craft of ceramics with 21 st century technology, by applying QR
code ceramic transfers on to bone china. My QR codes carried messages
from Greek superstitions and songs. The key to unlock the QR codes is
your own smart phone device.

As bone china contains bone ash it
symbolises the fact that as something dies something new is born just
like the ancient Greek Phoenix that rose from the ashes.

www.madebymanos.com