Harvey Fix: Vanishing Ice

×

Expand

Harvey Fix, "Vanishing Ice," nd

Public Reception with the Artist - FRI Nov 25 | 7 PM

Free Admission | Refreshments

Cash Bar | Music by Site 61

The magnificent, graceful forms and subtle hues of the ever-diminishing Arctic icebergs inspired Medicine Hat ceramist Harvey Fix’s new porcelain sculptures. Both thrown and hand-built, the abstracted forms are glazed and sandblasted, with a quiet and deeply-felt presence.

Harvey comments, “Changes in the environment, in our world, and what we are leaving our grandchildren are in my thoughts constantly. One late winter evening, (my wife) Loretta and I watched a National Geographic special on the decline of the polar ice cap (and) it sparked an idea that I have worked on for six or more years; it is ironic though that my homage to the dwindling ice is actually hastened by my firings with fossil fuels with these pieces. The sculptural representations in this exhibition are derived from a variety of publicly sourced photographs of icebergs. The pieces are all porcelain, fired to 2300 F in a gas and or soda kiln. Some were sandblasted after firing. No form is quite as perfect as one derived from nature; I hope people enjoy my interpretation of the imagery.”

Born and raised in Medicine Hat, Harvey Fix grew up in close proximity to the Historical Medalta and Hycroft Potteries, which had a marked effect on his attitude towards clay. He received instruction in art at Medicine Hat College and has attended numerous professional ceramic workshops in Canada, the USA, Great Britain, China and New Zealand over the past 30 years. He has exhibited in both solo and group exhibitions in Alberta, and his work resides in numerous public and private collections, including the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Esplanade Art Collection, the City of Medicine Hat, and the Comox Valley Art Gallery.