Ceramics and Glass Sustainability & the Environment Symposium

Last January I had the opportunity to speak at the Canadian Clay and Glass’s Sustainability and the Environment Symposium. I spoke about my practice and approach to living and working-with the environment.

From the website;

What does it mean to be an artist making-with ceramics in a time of ecological crisis? Donna Haraway in Staying with the Trouble, outlines the importance of sympoiesis, the act of making-with while acknowledging that nothing is self-organizing. When thinking this through with the lens of a sculptor, an involvement with material is understood as interacting components, continuously transf ormed and destroyed by a network of processes that form a whole and are self-sustaining. Shifts in perspective and studio practices that reflect a commitment of care to the planet we live on in sustainable ways will be explored throughout. This dance tells a story about how life and reality correlate, art and making, evolving, co-producing with expansive, nurturing, vibrant creativity.

As a process and material driven artist that explores elemental entanglement, my presentation will explore possible positions. Finding it useful to look to the past, the work of Ruth Duckworth will be introduced, an influential artist to my approach. My research creation exploring the concept of material reciprocity and what working-with means will be presented in addition to a live practical demo.

I brought along some examples of casting, apples 5 ways- showing how casting works in various materials (ceramics, glass, metal) and did a demo of mould making with alginate (an eco friendly derived material).

It was a great few days with many great discussions brought forward! Thank you for including me!