emerging artist: Olivia Rozema

by | Oct 29, 2016 | , , , , , , | 0 Comments

Of Giants Olivia Rozema MFA Graduating Exhibition
November 12 – 20
Artist Statement
Of Giants
is an exhibition of large scale ceramic sculptures of human body parts.
Based upon a series of preparatory drawings completed at the McMaster
Medical Anatomy Lab, each sculpture represents of an individual piece of
the body. With these sculptures I have peeled away layers of skin and
biological purpose to reveal a formal sculptural object. 

I
believe we are encouraged to see our bodies as either meat or machine;
these sculptures subvert this point of view to encourage a relationship
with our internal anatomy that is more celebratory than it is medical or
grotesque. Despite their beginnings as human anatomic specimens,
as a result of their scale and surface, these sculptures seem to be the
remnants of a gargantuan pre-historic creature. They have an excess in size that places them outside the realm of human,
but in truth our insides are the strange giants that are seemingly
strewn across the gallery floor. The final frontier is beneath our skin,
and although they often remain unseen, I believe our insides are made
up of a complex network of sculptures that each person carries with them
as they move through their lives.

Emulating the
format of catalogued specimens each sculpture is titled with a number.
These titles are a reference to the organization system of a medical
lab, but also play with mathematics, as the number refers to how tall a
person would be if these fragments were a true part of a body.  For example, the sculpture which represents all the bones in a human left foot is titled 49 10/12.
This means that a person with a giant’s foot of this scale would be
about 49’ 10” tall. These giant-scale human body parts re-mythologize
and monumentalize our hidden and mysterious insides giving viewers the
opportunity and license to imagine their own body parts as complex and
compelling formal objects.

The sculptures embody a type of self-knowledge. Their forms suggest something we feel we should recognize
but cannot place. They have an uncanny resemblance to the real,
however, they are skewed. They are strange human parts made stranger,
with my hand re-creating and re-imagining their forms. These forms,
removed from their natural bodily context and enlarged, reside in the
space between the familiar and the unfamiliar, dramatizing the
disconnect of our relationship between our insides and outsides. I
over-analysed, mimicking the shapes, patterns, and textures that
incited my fascination. I removed these bones, sinew, and organs from
their natural contexts and transformed them through sculpture, so that
my captivation with the shapes of our insides can be shared with the
audience. 

www.mackenzieartgallery.ca/engage/exhibitions/of-giants-olivia-rozema-mfa-graduating-exhibition

The 7th Triennial Canadian Clay Symposium ~ R:evolution – tradition – technology

by | Oct 24, 2016 | | 0 Comments

Saturday, March 18th, 2017
Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, Burnaby, BC

Where do you sit on the technological continuum in your ceramic
practice? Are you forging ahead, finding new and exciting ways to use
modern digital technologies in the creation or marketing of your work…
or hunkering down and finding ways to continue to explore your making in
traditional ways?
R:evolution – tradition – technology is a one
day ceramics symposium exploring the ways contemporary ceramic artists
interact with and employ new digital technologies; as a tool for making
work, in their artistic enquiry, or as a means to connect with peers and
their market. Attendees will also have the opportunity to investigate
the relevance and role of traditional methods in contemporary society.

The Canadian Clay Symposium will feature ten national and international
artists who have been invited to share their expertise with ceramic
arts students and professionals. Through numerous simultaneous
presentations of images, lectures, demonstrations, critiques, panel
discussions and a topical keynote address, the topics of presentation
cover theoretical topics, as well as practical techniques in areas such
as sculpture, hand-building, wheel-throwing, glaze and firing technology
and clay bodies.

Over the next months we will share through
this newsletter some information about each of the ten Symposium
presenters as well as report about other events and workshops that will
run in conjunction with the Symposium.

Currently Aaron Nelson is
the Associate Director at Medalta, a museum, residency, research and
education centre in Medicine Hat Alberta. In addition to his work as an
arts administrator, consultant and technical educator, Aaron also
maintains an active studio practice. Currently Aaron’s studio research
focuses on the intersection of digital technology and traditional
ceramic practice. He has lectured on this topic throughout Canada and
his research has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, The
Alberta Foundation of the Arts, and the National Research Council.

In his “Connectivity” project, Aaron’s handmade traditional tea cups,
platters, vases and porcelain chandeliers are connected, sometimes by
way of their decorative gold luster, with electrical and electronic
circuitry, telephones, iPods, generators, light bulbs and audio
speakers. The gilded decoration works as a simple circuit board – the
surfaces of the ceramics become energized with flowing electrons as they
transmit electrical current and data. Visitors are invited to ‘turn on’
and interact with the pieces physically or through their electronic
devices.

Learn more about Aaron and his work at these links:
• www.aaronnelson.ca
• “The Big Idea” video http://www.aaronnelson.ca/video
• Colour changing chandelier video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl9eHBEG-1M

Gwendolyn Yoppolo uses words, ceramic objects, and food to stretch
boundaries and transform perception. She creates sensuous kitchen- and
table-wares that use the physical experience of hunger and satiation to
allude to larger issues of human desire and relationship. Her visionary
designs challenge us to rethink the ways we nourish ourselves and others
within contemporary food culture. “The pieces I make are questions, and
they remain open-ended until fulfilled through use.”
Gwendolyn
earned an MFA in Ceramics from Penn State University, has been a
resident artist at the Penland School of Crafts, the Anderson Ranch Arts
Center, and the Archie Bray Foundation. Gwendolyn has taught at Ohio
University, The Ohio State University, and Juniata College, as well as
at art centers such as Arrowmont School of Crafts and Anderson Ranch
Arts Center. A passionate educator and thinker as well as a maker, her
writing can be found in Studio Potter, Pottery Making Illustrated, and
Passion and Pedagogy.

Learn more about Gwendolyn and her work at www.gwendolynyoppolo.com
Learn More!

For full symposium information, please visit http://www.canadianclaysymposium.com
• All participants must be pre-registered.
• Registration is now open. Early Bird Registration is $125 for Adults
or $110 for Seniors (plus GST) until January 15th, after that date
Registration will be $150 for Adults or $131.25 for Seniors (plus GST).
• Seniors Discount is only available through phone, in-person and mail-in registration,
on-line registration includes only the pricing option for regular Adult registration.
• All Fees include lunch.
• Register by mail (cheque payable to the City of Burnaby) or by phone to set up a new account: 604-291-6864.
• Those previously registered in Burnaby programs can access webreg online at: www.burnaby.ca/webreg

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