0 2 l f 3 a magazine for clay and glass r e b m u n e m … magazine f… · slide presentation and...

2 | F US ION MAGAZ I N E | Vo l ume 4 0 Numbe r 3 | c l a y a ndg l a s s . o n . c a

FUSION is excited to present our 2017Winter Workshop with Bryan HopkinsFebruary 10–12.• Friday, February 10: 7–9 pm

Slide presentation and lecture• Saturday, February 11 and Sunday,

February 12: 9 am–4 pmDemonstrations and hands-onpractice

Join us Friday evening 7–9 pm whenBryan Hopkins will offer a lively and funslide presentation. If you cannotparticipate in the whole workshop,come for this condensed learningopportunity!

On Saturday and Sunday, Bryan willdemonstrate his methods of working inporcelain that have led him to create adistinct body of work. He will also leadparticipants through exercises gearedtoward finding inspiration throughpersonal exploration of one’s ownpractice.

Attendees will gain the skills andconfidence necessary to explore form,texture, line, and color. Any levelceramist will gain knowledge about theuse of porcelain, but a basic knowledgeof working with clay is very helpful.Participants can hand-build or work onthe wheel, as well as combine thosetechniques.

FUSION thanks:• our 2017 Winter Workshop partner:

• our catering sponsor:

LocationMississauga Potters’ Guild3B – 1200 Vanier Drive, Mississauga, ON L5H 4C7

Ticket PricesFriday evening slide presentation andlecture:• $17 (including HST)

Friday evening and Saturday/SundayWorkshop (includes snacks andlunches):

Early Bird Registration (by January 20, 2017, 5 pm)• FUSION Member: $215

(including HST)• FUSION non-Member: $255

(including HST)

Late Registration(after January 20, 2017)• FUSION Member: $255

(including HST)• FUSION non-Member: $295

(including HST)

Space is very limited. Register early.For more information visit:www.clayandglass.on.ca

Bryan Hopkins

Mississauga, ONFebruary 10-12


The Ontario Arts Council is an agency of the Government of Ontario

Editor: Helen RudinAdvertising: Derek ChungDesign & Production: Derek ChungDate of Issue: December 2016

FUSION Magazine is published three times yearly byFUSION: The Ontario Clay and Glass Association©2016. All rights reserved; Canadian Publications MailProduct Sales Agreement #608904; ISSN 0832-9656;in Canadian Periodical Index. The views expressed bycontributors are not necessarily those of FUSION.

Please address editorial material to Editor, FUSIONMagazine, 1444 Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario,Canada M4L 1E1, or email: [email protected]

FUSION Magazine subscription is a benefit of FUSIONmembership and is included in membership fees. To apply for a FUSION membership please visitwww.clayandglass.on.ca/page-752463 for details.FUSION is a not-for profit, charitable organization.BN 12209 3826 RT0001. Back issues are available.

We do not make our subscribers’ names available toanyone else.FUSION BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2016-2017

President / Nominations Chris SneddenVice President VacantPast President Barbara BanfieldSecretary Gene TimpanyTreasurer / Conference Ann AllenConference Ann AllenMentorship Barbara BanfieldWinter Workshop Sara AtkinsClay and Glass Show Christopher Reid FlockCreative Directions Dianne LeeDirector at Large Stephen St. AmantDirector at Large Salina SzechtmanDirector at Large Marlene ZagdanskiCommunications VacantDevelopment VacantFireworks VacantGlass Programming VacantMembership/Guild Engagement VacantNorthern Programming Vacant

Executive Director Deborah FreemanOffice Administrator Jenanne Longman

Address: 1444 Queen Street East Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4L 1E1

Phone: 416-438-8946Fax: 416-438-0192E-mail: [email protected]: www.clayandglass.on.caOffice hours: See website for hours

FUSION gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the Government ofOntario through the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Recreation and theOntario Arts Council.

ON THE COVER

Yvo Samgushuk’s ‘Standing Figure’ is covered with the fineincised texture of the wearer’s suit, a detail that one cannotduplicate in soapstone carving.

IN THIS ISSUECeramics From Rankin Inlet By Jonathan Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Susan Low-Beer – And ++ / Bruce Cochrane – Re-Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Lou Lynn and Ione Thorkelsson: Glass at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Three Degrees of SeparationBy Gil McElroy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

True Nordic: How Scandinavia Influenced Design in Canada . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Materialize: A Juried Craft Exhibition by Craft Ontario at the Art Gallery of BurlingtonBy Jonathan Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Paula Murray: You Are MeBy Rachel Gotlieb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

FUSION Magazine Spotlight Featured Established Artist: Diane Black . . . 22

FUSION Magazine Spotlight Featured Established Artist: Bruce Cochrane 23

Carved In Stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

A MAGAZINE FOR CLAY AND GLASSFUSION

FUSION Magazine is publishedby FUSION: The Ontario Clayand Glass Association

Jack Nuviak and Leo Napayok have not shiedaway from depicting the reality of the communityin ‘The Fight After the Dance’.


When asked, what is Inuit art, the majority of peoplewill identify soapstone carving. A smaller handfulwill know about the stone block cut prints of Cape

Dorset. Even fewer will have heard of the tapestry workshopin Pangnirtung. But next to no one has heard about theamazing ceramics that have come out of Rankin Inlet.

In 1962, in Kivalliq (the Inuit name for Rankin Inlet),the North Rankin Nickel Mine closed its operations and letgo the Inuit who worked there. The Inuit were, for the mostpart, no longer living off the land and were stranded in anisolated community, so the Canadian government stepped into sponsor arts and crafts programsintended to encourage the localpopulation to take up the productionof sculpture.

An offshoot of this programwas the introduction of aceramics workshop in RankinInlet. This program struggleduntil 1977 before it was shutdown. While the ceramicsproduced during that timereceived critical acclaim theywere not warmly welcomed inthe southern market for anumber of reasons. Theartists were not familiarwith the medium andproduced work that wasnot as polished as thesoapstone carvings ofthe time. It was also

expensive to transport the materials to the north (especiallythe fuel to fire the kilns) and the public did not respond wellto the glazed surfaces. In the south people regarded theintroduction of ceramics to the North as a cultural importthat had little history and relevance to the native culture. It isinteresting to note that this accusation was not levelled at theproduction of coloured pencil drawings, the stone cut printsbased off of Japanese ukiyo-e workshops, or the tapestrytechniques, as, perhaps these techniques were regarded as artwhile clay was still considered a craft activity.

In 1977 Jim Shirley and his wife Sue came to thecommunity and over time they were inspiredto revive the ceramic program. By 1987 theyopened the Matchbox Gallery to produceand sell ceramics, the only community toproduce this work. The program JimShirley set up is particularlyimportant in serving his communityas a resource for learning because itemphasizes art training, but alsomath and reading exercises to help

increase problem solving skills.The program was geared tosupport the communal andcollaborative nature of theInuit, which has resulted in oneof the more striking elementsseen in this work.

Even though this newwork has garneredattention, the problemsof distribution have

Ceramicsfrom Rankin InletBy Jonathan Smith

Pierre Aupilardjuk’s ‘Two Friends Sharing Gossip’ is covered with small headswhispering to each other, spreading the news of the community one to another.

John Kurok’s ‘Birds and Faces 2’ demonstrates how the useof clay has allowed the artist to open up the form to create‘handles’ out of the bird’s wings.

Art Gallery of Burlington


hindered the general public from seeing these pieces in thesouth. The Art Gallery of Burlington has been fortunate tohave the opportunity to share the work with, both,ceramicists, and the larger community with the exhibitionCeramics from Rankin Inlet, an exhibition featuring aselection of twenty-six works from a private collector. Fiveearlier works in the Permanent Collection at the AGB arebeing shown alongside this exhibition to illustrate the stylisticevolution that has taken place over the last three decades.

The contrast between the later Rankin Inlet work andthe earlier pieces is striking. The later work is generally muchlarger in scale and the artists have now stopped glazing theirwork and employ terra sigillata and smoke firing in finishingtheir work. The choice of the finish is much more in keepingwith the work. Certain pieces are completed with a white terrasigillata, such as Roger Aksadjuak’s piece, ‘Hunters PreparingCaribou’, which conveys the cold harshness of living off theland. Yvo Samgushak’s smoke fired ‘Standing Figure’ has awarm sepia glow on the front of the figure, as if he is baskingin the sun, while the backshades to black as if thefigure is seen against thebrilliant sun and thereflection of the light offof the snow.

Another strikingdifference between the olderand newer work is the latter’semphasis on the spiritualconnection to the land and theirbeliefs. More recent work recordsscenes of everyday life, such ashunting or the harsh reality of death(such as Aksadjuak’s ‘Hunter’s LastJourney’, which shows a dead Inuit set adriftin his boat with his worldly possessions). It isapparent how important the links to theircommunity and the spirit world are. ‘Two FriendsSharing Gossip’ shows two standing figures, their armswide spread, as if ready to warmly embrace one another (somuch easier to whisper in each other’s ear the latest secret).Each figure is covered with small heads eagerly talking orlistening, sharing the local news one with another. In the ageof Facebook with its endless anonymous postings, this pieceshows the truly personal nature of one’s relationship with one’scommunity.

The connection to the environment is further shown intwo vase forms. John Kurok’s ‘Birds with Faces 2’ is a coil builtpot with two sculptural rings of alternating birds in flightjoined to human faces. The outspread wings of the birdsconnect to the faces allowing the wings to act as handles forthe pot. It is an outstanding example of design elements being

incorporated into the function of the piece. Four fullysculpted heads protrude from Lucy Sanertanut’s vessel,

‘Four Winds’. The heads with their tangle ofwindswept hair spiral around the piece giving it

a truly sculptural look, as one is forced towalk around it to see all the details,

including the three fish hiddenbelow the collar.

Connection to the spiritof the environment and

all living forms canalso be seen inthe largescale work,’EnchantedPolar Bear’.The firstnoteworthy

thing about thiswork is the co-

operation demonstratedin the production of this

piece. Four artists, John Nuviak, John Kurok, RogerAksadjuak, and Leo Napoyak all worked on the piece. Eachartist could have built and relief carved the form. The form is

Lucy Sanertanut’s ‘Four Winds’ is a vessel form that is trulysculptural in that one must walk around the form to fullyappreciate it.

Roger Aksadjuak’s ‘Hunter’s Last Journey’ depicts the funeral of ahunter, where the body is laid out in his boat, surrounded by hispossessions.


complex, with the overall work representing a polar bear. Theentire piece is covered with sculptural addition and reliefcarvings. Some of the sculptural forms include figures ofhunters, fish, seals, and even a bird in full flight. Each of theseforms is covered further, with relief carving. The piece takeson even greater mystical meaning as one more closelyexamines these forms. The hunters can change into mer-men,the legs of a figure can become the claws of the bear, a schoolof fish emerges out of a leg to swim across the back of thebear.

These pieces highlight exactly why this work is not justsoapstone carving translated into clay. The forms are no longermonolithic but are freestanding, often with openings betweendifferent portions of the work. The artists are not bound bythe limits imposed by the shape of the stone but can constructwork where details, such as an arm or a tail, can move freelyaway from the bulk of the form. Complex forms showing arelationship between a group of figures can be established, asJohn Nuviyak and Leo Napayok achieved in their piece, ‘TheFight After the Dance’. As a result, the overall feel of this pieceis that of greater rhythm and movement, as more intricateforms can be created. Any sense of stiffness is now a result ofthe artist’s expression, as opposed to the lack of malleabilityof the material. Work can now be highly detailed with figuresand textures which would have been impossible to capture instone. The artists now have a greater chance to change theirwork and to evolve their ideas during the creative processespecially when work is handed back and forth between oneartist and another.

As the ceramics of the north become better known,hopefully the necessary infrastructure to promote and marketthis work will develop so that this work can be shared with awider audience. The production of this work is a valuablerecord of this culture and helps preserve their culture andtraditions so that we all reconnect with the land.

Jonathan Smith is the Permanent Collection Curator at the Art Gallery of Burlingtonand sat, for many years, on the Board of FUSION: The Ontario Clay and GlassAssociation.

Jack Nuviyak, John Kurok, Roger Aksadjuak and Leo Napoyak allhelped in the creation of the ‘Enchanted Polar Bear’.

Alternate view of the ‘Enchanted Polar Bear’.

Roger Aksadjuak’s ‘Hunters Preparing Caribou’ depicts theeveryday struggle of living off the land and the co-operative natureof the culture.


Bruce Cochrane - Re-Form

Both at the David Kaye Gallery

Susan Low-Beer - And ++

Bruce Cochrane:Vase Form #2, 2016, wood-firedstoneware, 16 X 8 X 4 1/2 in.


On a trip, some time ago, Susan Low-Beer picked upa postcard of a small figure made of ivory from theArchaeological Museum of Herakleion, Crete called

the Bull-Fighter. Although it was not dated, she believed thatit was made during the Minoan period and is of a slender,youth, male figure with arms outstretched, as if holding thehorns of a bull; one arm is missing. She had this image tackedto her cork-board where images are placed that intrigue heror that she finds beautiful. Theproportions of this figure were quiteabstract and held her attention. Shedecided to try and copy it in clay soas to better understand itsconstruction. This was the beginningof three years of work that isevidenced here.

Susan Low-Beer continued herfigurative sculptural explorations, inwhich the tiny bull dancer is alwaysmanifest, in two main bodies of work.

From September 3 to 27, the firstinstallation – titled Being in theInbetween – was exhibited at theDavid Kaye Gallery in Toronto. Thisexhibition consisted of a wall of 25figures that appeared airborne, free,and whimsically playful.

Susan’s second body of work,inspired by the tiny bull dancer, isincluded in her 30 year retrospectiveshowing at the Art Gallery of Algomain Sault Ste. Marie, ON. Thisexhibition, titled Place of Becoming, consists of nine largefigures that hang from the ceiling and appear to be hoveringand diving through the air. The exhibition is curated by JasmineJovanovic and Stuart Reid. It will run until January 7th.

On December 1 Bruce Cochrane will be exhibiting arecent body of work. This work will represent Bruce’s ongoinginvestigation of wheel-thrown forms that have been alteredto reveal the structure of pottery forms in both utilitarianand sculptural manners.

The flat 2D shapes are worked out and resolved on paperbefore they are extended into 3D forms. Cochrane starts byusing a thrown clay cylinder to produce the volume and

dimension, which he then cuts andalters. Although there is minimalevidence of the throwing process andgesture, it is critical in the formingprocedure and the way of thinkingabout form. The ceramic process ofthrowing and altering the materialallows for a thorough exploration ofthe forms and the possibility ofmultiple variations, as seen in thethree categories of objects thatCochrane chooses to make: the vase,the wall hung object, and the liddedcontainer.The use of coarse, dark clay, along

with a subtle contrasting slip,combined with wood fired surfacesprovides a definition and richness tohis immaculately constructed forms.Bruce continues to thrive in his

retirement from his full time teachingobligations. He does not hesitate topush his work to new limits andcontinues to explore new ideas and

incorporates them into new work. Every few years there seemsto be a refreshing evolution to Bruce’s work. He certainlydoesn’t stick with the status quo.

Bruce Cochrane: Vase Form #1, 2016, wood-fired stoneware, 14 X 9 X 4 1/2 in.

Susan Low-Beer: Being in the Inbetween: The elements are of varying sizes (14 - 15 in.) and are made of ceramic (the figure) with mixedmedia (found wire, beads, metal scraps).


Lou Lynn andIone Thorkelsson:Glass at the Canadian Clay andGlass Gallery

Lou Lynn’s sculptural works combine glass and bronzeto turn ordinarily utilitarian objects into works of art.She began exploring the sculptural potential of glass in

the mid 1980’s and has drawn inspiration from an interestin archaic and industrial tools and artifacts.

She describes her work as combining “the strength,fragility and optical properties of glass with bronze, to createforms that draw attention to the materials’ inherentqualities.” And she goes on to say that she “is attracted tofunctional objects of all kinds, from all epochs and enjoy[s]pondering the intended use of these things.”

The work presented in Lou Lynn:COMMON/unCOMMON, an exhibition showing at theCanadian Clay and Glass Gallery in Waterloo, Ontario untilthe end of December, reinterprets the familiar and asksviewers to reconsider the beauty inherently found infunctional objects. This exhibition features both previouslyexhibited works from the ‘utensil’ and ‘fastener’ series, anddebuts several new works that reference simple domesticobjects including buckles, clasps and textile tools.

Lou Lynn’s sculpture has been widely exhibitednationally and internationally and is displayed in manypublic collections. She has been nominated twice for theGovernor General’s Award (Saidye Bronfman Award) andshe was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts(RCA) in 2010.

Ione Thorkelsson has had a long career as a highlyaccomplished glass artist. But she spent an interesting fewyears as a scenic painter, props assistant, and wardrobeassistant at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet subsequent to herstudies in architecture at the University of Manitoba. By1973, Thorkelsson had set up a private studio and wasstudying glass at Sheridan College School of Craft andDesign.

Ione Thorkelsson: A Natural History of Utopias, isexhibiting simultaneously with Lou Lynn’s exhibition at theCanadian Clay and Glass Gallery, and features hybridcreatures, modified plant life and an accumulation of animal‘bones’ made from glass castings that are beautiful andtroubling. The works on view explore the consequences ofhuman intervention in the natural world.

In 2007 she was inducted into the Royal CanadianAcademy of Arts (RCA) and in 2010 she was awarded theSaidye Bronfman Award for Excellence in Fine Craft, one ofeight Governor General’s Visual Arts awards.

Ione Thorkelsson: Corrections 2 with trusses, 2010.

Lou Lynn: Tracing Wheel, 2016.


Three Degrees of SeparationBy Gil McElroy

Here’s an idea: whatsay we ascribe toevery artefactual

work of art a kind ofenveloping “cloud.” Ofcourse I don’t mean a literalcloud; I’m talking metaphor,here. Let’s imagine theartefact as surrounded byevery possible permutationof meaning, connotation,denotation, association,contextualization that itmight suggest (or generate).Clouds. Better artefacts –better art – would, in thisway of thinking, have alarger or denser cloudsurrounding it, lesssubstantial work a smaller,more diffuse cloud – or, inextreme cases, none at all.

Lindsay Anderson: Raku #2, 2016,porcelain, 28 x 30.5 cm.

Bottom Right. Susan McDonald:Clay Print #1, 2016, clay slip oncloth, 20.3 x 25.4 cm.

Brenda Sullivan: Lidded PoppyVase II, 2016, porcelain, 30.5 x 24cm. Photo by Paul Dededer.


organized around flora – specifically, the form of the poppypod. Now, we commonly know the plant as a floweringperennial, and maybe best for its association withRemembrance Day ceremonies and the wearing of artificialpoppy flowers. But it has another side – its fundamental rolein the drug trade grown for the production of opium. Theseed pods of such plants are cut along the sides and thenscraped for the harvest of the exuded latex that is thebeginnings of the drug.

Perhaps it’s here, and not the commemorative species ofplant, where Sullivan’s work offers comment and associations– the production of my argumentative cloud, I mean. PoppyVessel might suggest so. It’s a lidded jar, narrow at the baseand widely flaring out as it rises up, capped by a broad,shallow lid. And it’s got a streaky glaze, its muted brownvertically striated with lines of white crackle. There’s adecided and intentional messiness to the work, as if anartefact that’s representing the stresses undergone in, oh Idunno, let’s say maybe the scraping of its sides and top.

Lidded Poppy Vase II iterates the form, but has a cleaneraspect with no exuded striations. But it’s stillrepresentationally an immature seed pod, its sides cut as if inpreparation for harvest. And Sullivan’s Poppy Vase II givesus the stoneware equivalent of a mature seed pod, its topbeautifully blossoming open. But the vessel sides here arescarred. In three works. Sullivan has – possibly or seemingly– represented three stages of the poppy-as-opium producer,and she’s done it magnificently, reminding us that even thesinister has its own particular beauty. Here is work that isbrilliantly cloudy.

Lindsay Anderson’s porcelain works appear to dissemblethe very idea of the vessel into something almost elemental.Or Platonic – I’m not entirely sure which. His are forms thatmake more than a passing nod to the vessel form and yet

Clouds could, of course grow larger or shrink, depending onthe work’s aesthetic viability over the course of time. Andclouds could disappear entirely.

In the scenario I’ve just posited, work that hastraditionally fallen under the rubric of “craft” could have ahard time of it; medium-specificity and commitment to theutile could stifle the generation or accumulation of clouds.Use-value of a stringent sort could never permit an artefactto be anything beyond its function. In some ways, that’s thecloudless story of artefacts that have been generically deemed“craft.”

But when we remove the artificial constraints of “craft”versus “fine art,” more interesting stuff can happen. Like,well, clouds, and there were clouds to be had in the recentexhibition Three Degrees of Separation.

The rolling hills of Northumberland County insoutheastern Ontario are home to a heck of a lot of ceramists.The Colborne Art Gallery located in the heart of the countydowntown in the tiny village of, well, Colborne has madethem very welcome over the years. Most recently it wasceramists Lindsay Anderson, Susan McDonald, and BrendaSullivan – the makers whose work comprised Three Degreesof Separation.

Maybe not surprisingly, it was the tension between theutile and what I’ll loosely call the decorative or ornamental– the aesthetic impetus to render ceramic artefacts as stand-alone works in and of their own right and not merelyutilitarian ‘appliances’ – that was front and centre. And ittook some interesting directions.

The strangest may very well be some of the work ofBrenda Sullivan, and by that I mean work that was, at theroot, conventional vessel ceramics, yet interestinglyenveloped by a dense and unusual cloud of aestheticpossibilities. This vessel-based work (jars and lidded jars) was

Brenda Sullivan: Lidded Poppy Vase III,2016, porcelain.

Susan McDonald: Print Platter, 2016, stoneware, 23 x 30.5 cm.

Lindsay Anderson: Raku #1, 2016,porcelain, 33 x 30.5 cm.

ceramic prints. It’s the latter thatinterests me, as McDonald entirelycrosses the line from artefact –from even the merest gesture of theutile – to the image. It begins (Ithink) with Print Platter, anirregularly shaped oval platter ontowhich she has used clay slip to“print” images of teeming fishmoving hither and yon across thestoneware expanse. And here’swhere the utile connection is thencleanly severed, for theaforementioned image of teemingfish becomes something in its ownright – and not merely decorativeor ornamental appendage – withher series of four Clay Prints. It’swork on cloth, slip as the printingmedium – the impetus of ceramicsbecome pure imagery printedupon a textile – and while it istransgressive, it also has its rootsdeeply established in the traditionsof the ceramic medium. ThinkThomas Wedgwood, Josiah’s son,and his early experiments in proto-photography at the very turn ofthe 19th century, photography’snear-forgotten debt to clay.Wedgwood’s experiments didn’tlead to what became photographyas we have known it, but mud wasmost decidedly there at its verybeginnings. Here, some twohundred plus years later, SusanMcDonald proffers an aesthetic ofclay’s less-followed path. And it all makes for some verybeautiful clouds.


rather shirk off the utilitarian intent ofthe void to focus on form assomething remotely akin to a Platonicsolid.

Now, there’s a formal meaningand definition to “Platonic solid” thatI am not attempting to engage with;rather, I’m trying to suggest thatAnderson is messing about withidealizations of form. Raku #5 mightshow what I’m trying to say. It’sclearly alluding to the vessel form,broadly bowl-shaped, rising up fromreally a rather tiny base supporting thetip of the inverted conical shape. Uptop there’s little evidence of vessel tobe found save for a minute, centralvoid framed by a flat surface of rathermassive vastness and irregularity. It’stop-heavy, for short, and Andersonreimagines and reconfigures thecentral void that is the whole point ofa vessel as a kind of axis – the stillcentre that holds his work together,the null around which an aestheticaccumulates. Raku #4 comprises akind of multiple – curvy, conicalforms stacked one atop the other,snugly nestled each within each, allheld vertically in place by that centralaxial nullity. Utility, in a way. A simplevase may proffer the void assomething to be filled, to beemployed, but Anderson’s pieces hereproffer it as what holds a worldtogether.

Susan McDonald, the final of thetrio, had two distinct bodies of work,here – one a series of stoneware andporcelain platters and teapots, theother that amounted to a series of

Brenda Sullivan: Poppy Vessel, 2016, porcelain, 30 x 20.3 cm.

Lindsay Anderson: Raku #4, 2016, porcelain, 20.3 x 48.3 cm.

Susan McDonald: Clay Print #4, 2016, clay slip on cloth, 20.3 x 25.4 cm.


On October 13, thelandmark exhibition TrueNordic: How Scandinavia

Influenced Design in Canada,opened at the Gardiner Museum ofceramic art. The exhibitionexplores more than seven decadesof Nordic influence on Canadianartisans and designers. “True Nordic reveals how

Canadian makers sought to createobjects that would transmit ideasabout place and the character ofCanadian society,” says exhibitionco-curator Michael Prokopow,Associate Professor and Dean ofGraduate Studies at OCADUniversity.

True Nordic:How ScandinaviaInfluenced Design in Canada

Ernst Lorenzen (1911-1990), Alma Lorenzen (1916-1998):Vase, c. 1969. Ceramic, 23.5 x 10 x 9 cm. Courtesy of Allan Collier.Photography by Allan Collier.


The first exhibition of its kind, True Nordic features over100 works by more than 60 designers including Kjeld andErica Deichmann, Carl Poul Petersen, Karen Bulow, TheBrothers Dressler, and Heidi Earnshaw. The works reflect asimple yet vital Scandinavian aesthetic tied to natural forms,materials, and imagery, and a desire to create attractive,functional objects.

“What is so remarkable is that visitors will be able to seeScandinavian-inspired ceramics, furniture, glass, textiles,pewter, and silver together in a single exhibition. It’s a raretreat,” says exhibition co-curator Rachel Gotlieb, AdjunctCurator of Contemporary Ceramics at the GardinerMuseum.

Beginning in the mid-1920s, Canadians witnessed thearrival of artisans from Sweden and Denmark in search ofeconomic opportunity. These Scandinavian émigrés shapedthe taste for contemporary craft in the postwar era, andCanadian cultural institutions and the federal governmentturned to Scandinavian design principles to cultivate aCanadian design culture and identity.

“In some ways, modernism packaged by Scandinavia wasthe Trojan Horse of contemporary,” says Kelvin Browne,Executive Director and CEO of the Gardiner Museum.“Prior to its arrival in Canada, modern design only surfacedas the chrome and leather seating in office lobbies. No onewould have dreamed of having it in their homes.”

Between 1954 and 1957, the exhibition Design in

Scandinavia, which featured 700 products from Denmark,Finland, Norway, and Sweden under four major themes—“Good Articles for Everyday Use,” “Living Tradition,” “Formand Material,” and “Scandinavians at Home”—touredtwenty-four institutions across North America including theRoyal Ontario Museum (ROM), the National Gallery ofCanada, and the Vancouver Art Gallery.

In conjunction with the exhibition, major departmentstores Eaton’s and Simpson’s organized their own specialevents and displays. A full-page advertisement for Eaton’s inThe Globe and Mail in 1954 promoted Scandinavian designas a “fresh, functional approach to comfortable, modernliving.”

Canadian manufacturers began adding Scandinaviandesigns to their repertoire, giving these new lines names like,Helsinki, Stavanger, and Scanda.

Today, Scandinavian modernism continues to resonatewith some of Canada’s most notable contemporary artisansand designers, including Jeff Martin, Helen Kerr, OmerArbel, and Niels Bendtsen.

The exhibition showing at the Gardiner Museum wasdesigned by Andrew Jones, the Canadian designer behindthe whimsical pink umbrellas on Toronto’s Sugar Beach.For True Nordic, Jones drew inspiration from the borealforest—a dominant feature of both the Canadian andScandinavian landscapes—using the image of the envelopingforest as a backdrop.

Luke Lindoe: Ceramic Arts, Calgary, ABTwo-toned bottle, c. 1974. Ceramic, 26x 11 cm. Private Collection.Photography by Toni Hafkenscheid.

Lotte Bostlund (1919-1999): Designer BostlundIndustries, Oak Ridges, ON, manufacturer Lamp,c. 1964. Ceramic with paint, spun nylon, 69 x 27cm. Private Collection. Photography by ToniHafkenscheid.

Ruth Gowdy McKinley (1931-1981):Vase, 1975. Ceramic, 22 x 8 cm.Courtesy of Lauren McKinleyRenzetti. Photography by ToniHafkenscheid.


The show is organized around a large, U-shaped plinth,which directs visitors in a chronological path around theoutside of the gallery. Atop the plinth sit three long sectionsof kraft-paper “softwall” created by the Canadian designcompany molo. The three sculptural walls form undulatingalcoves for the display of furniture, referencing Alvar Aalto’sinternationally influential Finnish pavilion for the 1939World’s Fair in New York.

As visitors move through the show, they encounter threesections, each made up of a range of artifacts, from pottery,to furniture, to large-scale textiles. The journey leads to alarge inner alcove, which houses the final, contemporarydesign section. Spaces between the serpentine walls allowvintage and contemporary works to be glimpsed together,reinforcing the exhibition’s stylistic themes and theirconnections across time.

Notable works include Mariette Rousseau-Vermette’slarge wall tapestry Hiver canadien from the Musée national

des beaux-arts du Québec, a rare Harold Stacey silver servicefrom the National Gallery of Canada, and a stunningsamovar by Carl Poul Petersen from the McCord Museum,commissioned by Edgar and Saidye Bronfman.

The exhibition also features historical photographs andvideos of artisans at work from the 1950s, as well as the NFBshort film The Story of Peter and the Potter, starring Kjeldand Erica Deichmann, Canada’s first full-time studio potters.

True Nordic will be on display until January 8, 2017,when it will travel to the New Brunswick Museum fromMarch 3 to September 5, 2017, and then to Vancouver ArtGallery from October 21 2017 to January 21, 2018.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue, featuringessays by co-curators Rachel Gotlieb and Michael Prokopow,as well as George Baird, Emeritus Professor and former Deanof the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape,and Design at the University of Toronto, and Mark Kingwell,Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto.

Kjeld Deichmann (1900-1963), Erica Deichmann (1913-2007): Vase, 1962.Stoneware with cobalt underglaze, 33.8 x 34 x 34 cm. Purchased from the artists, 1967, A67.83, New Brunswick Museum / Muséedu Nouveau-Brunswick.

Katherine Morley (b. 1973): Arctic Bookends, 2013.Slip-cast porcelain, 17.8 x 17.8 x 25.4 cm. Courtesy ofKatherine Morley. Photography by Toni Hafkenscheid.

Jenna Stanton (b. 1978): Pour me... the self-medicatingseries, 2014-2015. Slip-cast porcelain, withsilkscreened enamel decals, underglaze decoration,21.6 x 7.6 cm. Courtesy of MADE Design. Photographyby Toni Hafkenscheid.

Roman Bartkiw (1935-2010): Cream jug, sugar pot, salt shaker, andpepper pot, c. 1960. Stoneware, silver, varied dimensions. Roman BartkiwEstate, Courtesy of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Photography by RawPhotography.

Cheng’Ou Yu: On The Edge Series. Slip cast porcelain, glaze.

Reid Ferguson: Forwell and Lexington. Slump glass, cast concrete.


Chan, Emma Chorostecki, Brittany MacDougall and CassicHo are a revelation. Three of them, Chan, Chorostecki andMacDougall each have designed a beautiful chair, one of themost difficult furniture forms to perfect. It wasn’t until theeighteenth century with English Georgian cabinet makersand French ébénistes that the complex relationship of seatheight, seat depth, arm height, the slant of the back and anynumber of different measurements were figured out toproduce a comfortable seat. The continued production ofthis style of furniture is a testament to the success of these

designs. Anyone who has had to struggleto get up from Mies van der Rohe’sclassic Barcelona chair will tell you thatgood chair design is only noticed whenit is lacking.

The four ceramic artists in theshow are Joon Hee Kim, Karla Rivera,Nurielle Stern and Cheng’Ou Yu.Ceramics, so long associated with theidea of function, is largely representedwith work that is sculptural in naturewith references to landscape andarchitecture. As the only functionalpieces in the show, Cheng’Ou Yu’s workis the result of a complex process ofinterchangeable molds that investigatecontemporary Western approaches toclay while showing the influence ofChinese porcelain.

It is interesting to note that thetwo glass artists in the exhibition both display work that atfirst glance one would guess that they were ceramics. KristianSpreen’s ‘ Untitled Series’ of glass vases are clear frost glassover with an underglazed design that looks like colouredpencil drawings over an opaque white interior. ReidFerguson’s ‘Forwell and Lexington’ bowl has a patternedimage in black and white glass interior that has been slumpmolded into a concrete exterior. These works are some of themost intriguing pieces in the show as they go to great lengthsto avoid the most common feature of the medium, itstransparency.

One of the great challenges for young artists who workin the craft world is how does one promote one’swork so that it reaches as large an audience as

possible. Craft Ontario, formerly the Ontario Craft Council,has set out to help alleviate this problem with their campaignto support their membership by promoting exhibitions suchas Materialize, which was recently shown at the Art Galleryof Burlington. This exhibition was juried by DenisLongchamps, Chief Curator of the AGB, and JannaHiemstra, Curator and Director of Programs of CraftOntario and is the third annual juriedcollection of emerging craftspeople. Inorder to qualify as an emerging artist onemay still be undertaking undergraduate orgraduate studies and have a smallexhibition record and have been workingin a professional capacity for less than fiveyears. One of the major qualities of thisexhibition is the emphasis on theinnovative aspect of the media that arerepresented here.

Of the sixteen artist represented,many of this year’s exhibitors are eitherstill in school at Sheridan College or in theArtist-in-Residence program atHarbourfront. The areas that theyrepresent include ceramics, glass,jewellery, furniture and textiles.

While in recent years institutionssuch as the Art Gallery of Burlington andthe Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery have actively promotedCanadian ceramics, there are few opportunities for othercraft oriented activities to be seen and critically evaluated inrelationship to their peers outside of commercial venues likethe Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibit or the Interior DesignShow. In an area such as furniture it is particularly difficultto produce freelance design, as few people in the generalpublic think about commissioning work, partly on accountof the cost and partly due to the long wait time for delivery.There is also a lack of knowledge that this service is available.As such, the four furniture makers in the show, Richard

MATERIALIZEA Juried Craft Exhibition by Craft Ontario

at the Art Gallery of Burlington.By Jonathan Smith

Pasha Moezzi: Clé-O Necklace.Sterling silver, brass.


The five jewellers in the show are Andrée Chénier, AlexKinsley, Tammy McClennan, Pasha Moezzi and Anne-Sophie Vallée. One of the characteristics that most of themetalworkers shared was a move away from the traditionalgold, silver and gem stones, to a mixture of metals, includingsurprisingly brass and the combination of silver with boldlycoloured, powder coated steel. Amanda Gresik supplied thetwo textile works to the exhibit that are truly personal. Oneis a mixed media installation piece titled ‘I’ve Waited 159Days For This Appointment’, that consists of a numberdispenser for serving patients and a strip of whiteworkembroidered numbered tickets, an autobiographic touchreflecting her experiences in the health field.

One overwhelming characteristic of the work in theexhibition is the high degree of craftsmanship that each ofthe artists shows. This particularly is demonstrated in thefinishing details of each of the pieces, how carefully the edgesof the forms, from the furniture to glass have been cleanedup. Another striking detail is the mixture of materials thatany artist might use. There is the mixed metal and powdercoated steel in the jewellery, the bowls consisting of glass andcement, and the chair constructed out of Baltic birchplywood and plastic laminate. The materials are chosen fortheir visual appeal as opposed to their expense or rarity. Thesepieces place their value on their craftsmanship and the designas opposed to a hierarchy of value of the materials. For manyyears craft was devalued in comparison to art because it wasfunctional. Ceramic artists have led the way to a newunderstanding that work can be evaluated as an equal to artand still place emphasis on the craftsmanship and thefunctionality of the piece.

One last remark from a long time (read old) observer ofthe craft movement - for many years, to be hand craftedmeant to be home made. If it had none of the gloss or shineof a manufactured object was made of everyday material(pine instead of teak, earthenware instead of porcelain) it wasseen to be, in the term of the time ‘honest’. Artists often wentfor the heavy, the clunky, the serious look. This is not to beconfused with the Japanese aesthetic ‘wabi sabi’, which isoften the product of years of experience by the maker andthe wear and tear, the graceful aging, that develops from theyears of service a piece experiences. This exhibition shows therefinement and careful but often understated care andexpertise that our younger generation of craftspeople are nowaiming for. What better grounding for the future of all thecrafts can there be than that?

Jonathan Smith is the Permanent Collection Curator at the Art Gallery of Burlingtonand sat, for many years, on the Board of FUSION – The Ontario Clay and GlassAssociation.

Brittany MacDougall: Lounge Chair. Baltic birch plywood, matteplastic laminate.

Cassic Ho: Huntress, Cosmetic Table. Maple, mirror, ceramic cup,leather.


Since the origins of the studiopottery movement in theearly twentieth-century, the

bowl has fascinated material basedartists who choose to perfect or dis-rupt its surface and shape. It is auniversal form easily identified as acontainer of liquids and solids andoften understood as a metaphoricalsymbol of life.

Paula Murray: You Are MeBy Rachel Gotlieb

Paula Murray: You Are Me 2016Circle Diametre is 11’. Aluminiumstructure wrapped in muslin.Photo by David Barbour.


For Paula Murray the clay vessel is a canvas to explore thetensions of life’s many paradoxes: culture and nature,deliberation and chance, fragility and strength and, mostimportantly, the individual and the collective. Murray livesand works in a cottage by the lake in Gatineau Park. Here shewitnesses the volatility of nature, which informs her workinstilling a distinctly organic aquatic sensibility. She and herfamily sailed the world for five years. She has spent as muchtime in a vessel as she has thinking about and making them.

“Raw” and “fragmented,” these are the words thatMurray uses to describe her upbringing and they fittinglyapply to the vessels themselves. After years of trial and error,Murray has refined an original process of casting liquidporcelain with fiberglass, a blend that causes stress in thehybrid clay body, which Murray further exploits byprematurely releasing the work from the mould and gentlymanipulating its shape as it dries to warp and furl.

Each bowl begins with a pure and unblemished skin butover multiple kiln firings, Murray employs a variety oftechniques of infilling, knitting, sandblasting and burnishingto either enhance or diminish the ruptures. The patina thatMurray creates in these open, closed, vertical and horizontalreceptacles conveys a uniqueness seemingly attained over apassage of time. Look inside and outside each vessel: the smoothand rough textures, the fractures, the ripples, and the wrinklesconnote pulsating veins, muscles, flaws, and defects. The bowlsnestle in a ring on a wrapped tubular metal armature. Togetheras a group they form a wondrous and harmonious collectionwhile maintaining their individuality to reveal both strengthand tranquillity. The message is at once ambiguous and clear:we are all the same yet different, you are me, and I am you.

Paula Murray is a master of her materials, and yet, thereare cracks in all her vessels currently on display at theOttawa Art Gallery. How can that be?

Perhaps courage. This woman with a gentle, sweetsoul is showing us beauty, perfectly proportionedexquisite shapes, almost ethereal, with cracks, somesubtle, others more blatant, like injuries, wounds. Someof these wounds are recent, red and raw, some are invarious stages of healing, others have healed, scars whichadd to the beauty of the vessel, making the shape moreinteresting.

An old story; injury, healing, wounds healed bybeauty. Paula Murray tells it again in these exquisite,beautiful vessels, courageously bringing us to the edge ofthe ancient, universal emotions inherent in injury,physical or emotional, injury held in the beauty that canaid and comfort, and ultimately heal; in her hands amessage so subtle it becomes universal, a message straightto the soul. – Joan Petch

My practice is rooted in the relationship betweenprocess, material and meaning. I am interested in theexchange of energy that is essential to life, be it intrinsicor extrinsic. The energy at the molecular level thatattracts or repels particles of clay is invisible to the eye,but the effects are apparent. I have developed a process ofworking in which the juxtaposition of clay and glasscreates another layer of tension, allowing me to test thelimits of endurance and resilience within the form of theporcelain vessel.

I am drawn to how these ceramic materials andprocesses have affinities with the human condition; howwe respond and engage with the injury of experience -within, with each other, with the other. By embracingwounds, deeper meaning can be brought to our lives,transforming suffering into something worthy, sensuousand beautiful. – Paula Murray

Paula Murray: You Are Me III Detail 2016. Porcelain, OriginalProcess, Multiple firings, 17”h x 17"w x 21”d. Photo by DavidBarbour.

Paula Murray: You Are Me 2016. Circle Diametre is 11’.Aluminium structure wrapped in muslin. Photo Guy L’Heureux.


FUSION MAGAZINE SPOTLIGHTFEATURED ESTABLISHEDARTIST

DIANE BLACKAs a whole, my workis about relationships;those that form myown experience andrelationships that theviewer establishes inresponding to thework. Humour is usedto break downbarriers, allowingdeeper meaning andconnections tosurface.

The idea of beingopen to whatevercomes is an importantone - my process ofsculpting in clay is notcarefully planned and Idon't make use of anarmature so I am freeto respond to whimsor changes indirection that moreauthentically reflectthe emotion ormessage I am trying toconvey or the story Iam telling. Thisspontaneousapproach allows me towork quickly in theinitial stages, givingthe pieces a feeling ofimmediacy andintimacy.


FUSION MAGAZINE SPOTLIGHTFEATURED ESTABLISHED ARTIST

BRUCE COCHRANEBruce Cochrane is aninternationally acclaimedceramic artist and recentlyretired Professor Emeritus ofCeramics at Sheridan College.During his 30 plus years ofteaching at Sheridan he wasinstrumental in developing theCeramic Program’s reputationas one of the best in Canada.He is himself one of Canada’spre-eminent ceramic artists withwork featured in public andprivate collections around theworld.

Bruce’s studies began atthe Nova Scotia College of Artand Design and continued inAlfred, New York at the NewYork State College of Ceramicswhere he received his Mastersof Fine Art. Since his graduationin 1978 Bruce has participatedin over 300 exhibitions, andshares his knowledge throughlectures and workshopsthroughout North America.

His work can be found inthe permanent collections of theRoyal Ontario Museum inToronto, Gardiner Museum ofCeramic Art in Toronto, Victoriaand Albert Museum in London,England and the CanadianMuseum of Civilization inOttawa to name a few.Bruce resides in Toronto andmaintains his studio practice inGrey Highlands, Ontario.

His recent body of workrepresents his ongoinginvestigation of wheel thrownform in its altered state to createobjects that reveal the structureof pottery form in both autilitarian and sculptural manner.

His latest work can beviewed at his exhibition “Re-form” at the David Kaye Galleryfrom December 1 to 23, 2016.


FUSION's 2017 Conference will celebrate Canada's 150th birthday with

a fantastic all Canadian artist line-up at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario.

New this year is an all-day Friday event, in addition to the regular 2-day weekend

featured artists.We will kick-off the weekend with a lecture

and demonstrations by Paula Murray on Friday.Saturday and Sunday will feature MarikoPaterson and Sarah Pike demonstrating

and discussing their work.

Our meal menus will feature Canadian cuisine.

As always, the Conference will bring delegatestogether for a chance to network and visit; meet with suppliers; take part in FUSION'sexciting silent mug auction; and take home

a piece of great Canadian art.

And watch-out for a special new event; more information to be announced soon.

Paula Murray

Mariko PatersonSarah Pike

FUSION Conference – June 9-11, 2017


CARVED IN STONE

To December 31, 2016Lou Lynn:COMMON/unCOMMONCanadian Clay and Glass Gallery25 Caroline Street NorthWaterloo, ON

To December 31, 2016Ione Thorkelsson: A NaturalHistory of UtopiasCanadian Clay and Glass Gallery25 Caroline Street NorthWaterloo, ON

Ongoing 2016Quebec: A Different DrummerArt Gallery of Burlington1333 Lakeshore Road Burlington, ON

To January 4, 2017Edmund De Waal: Rhythm in WhiteThe Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art111 Queen’s Park, Toronto, ON

To January 7, 2017Susan Low-Beer:Embodiment: 30 Years of CeramicSculptureArt Galley of Algoma10 East Street Sault Ste. Marie, ON

To January 8, 2017True Nordic: How ScandinaviaInfluenced Design in CanadaThe Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art111 Queen’s Park, Toronto, ON

To February 26, 2017Syria: A Living HistoryAga Khan Museum77 Wynford DriveToronto, ON

December 1 to 23, 2016Bruce Cochrane – Re-FormDavid Kaye Gallery1092 Queen Street West Toronto, ON

December 2, 2016 to January29, 2017Laurent Craste: ÉpurationArt Gallery of Burlington1333 Lakeshore Road Burlington, ON

December 3 to 31, 2016Carnegie Christmas MarketCarnegie Gallery10 King Street West Dundas, ON

January 16 to March 18, 2017Living WellCraft Ontario1106 Queen Street West Toronto, ON

February 2 to 26, 2017Ann CummingsDavid Kaye Gallery1092 Queen Street West Toronto, ON

February 10 to 13, 2017Bryan Hopkins: FUSION Winter WorkshopMississauga Potters’ Guild3b – 1200 Vanier Drive Mississauga, ONwww.clayandglass.on.ca

June 9 to 11, 2017FUSION 2017 Annual Conferencefeaturing Paula Murray on Friday,Mariko Paterson and Sarah Pikeon Saturday and Sunday.Fanshawe College, London, ONwww.clayandglass.on.ca

Please contact theFUSION Office

for information aboutplacing an advertisement.

Phone: 416-438-8946E-mail:

[email protected]

If you are interested in writing for

FUSION Magazineor have an idea for an article,

email the editor,Helen Rudin

[email protected].

0 2 l f 3 a magazine for clay and glass r e b m u n e m … magazine f… · slide presentation and...

Documents