"CONTEMPORARY CANADIAN CERAMICS," May 13 — July 9, 2006, Esplanade Art Gallery, Medicine Hat

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"Shaman's Dream"

Roger Aksadjuak, "Shaman's Dream," n/d, hand built with sculptural appliqué, burnished terra sigillata, sawdust fired, no dimensions available.

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"Flower Holder"

Katrina Chaytor, "Flower Holder," 2006, high fire stoneware, hand-built, oxidation fired, no dimensions available.

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"Shaman's Dream"

Roger Aksadjuak, "Shaman's Dream," n/d, hand built with sculptural appliqué, burnished terra sigillata, sawdust fired, no dimensions available.

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CONTEMPORARY CANADIAN CERAMICS

Esplanade Art Gallery, Medicine Hat

May 13 — July 9, 2006

By Amy Gogarty

Esplanade Art Gallery curator Joanne Marion and Les Manning, director of Medalta Artists in Residency program, jointly selected the works in Contemporary Canadian Ceramics. While not aspiring towards a comprehensive survey, the exhibition represents all geographical regions of Canada and demonstrates a diverse range of approaches. Three participants, Claude Prairie (Québec), Anita Rocamora (Saskatchewan), and Linda Sormin (British Columbia), are invited artists for the 2006 residency at the former Medalta clayworks in Medicine Hat and their work here provides a direct link with the Medalta program. Others, including Greg Payce and Katrina Chaytor from Alberta; Rory MacDonald and Ruth Chambers from Saskatchewan; Robert Archambeau from Manitoba; Bruce Taylor from Ontario, and Gilbert Poissant from Québec are prominent within the national milieu. In all, the strong and beautifully installed exhibition includes 28 artists working across the range of ceramics practice in Canada today.

Any group exhibition with such a large number of participants inevitably lacks the focus of a tightly curated or thematic show. While this is true to some extent, the quality here is uniformly high, and strong connections can be made between works. Both functional and non-functional works are included, with non-functional approaches divided into sculpture and wall-mounted pieces. In terms of those works that function much as a painting or drawing might, Gilbert Poissant, renowned in Québec for his architectural murals, prints, and drawings, presents a vertical triptych consisting of three slab-molded plates. Poissant's formal and graphic sensibility is evident in contrasts between the bold drawing, rubbed and stained fields, stamped letters and fragile, torn edges. Taking a more painterly approach, New Brunswick's Karen Burk exhibits lusciously coloured porcelain forms on which she has drawn organic fruits, leaves, and flowers which melt into the glaze with the softness of an oriental ink wash.

Of the more sculptural works, many incorporate the vessel or the concept of function as subject matter. Using small patches of clay, Claude Prairie builds whimsical vases, coats them with textured, lumpy glazes, then raku-fires the results. Audrey Killoran makes self-contained structures that resemble boats, buildings, or lidded tureens. These are meticulously covered with delicate patterns and sawdust-fired to create exquisite surfaces. Greg Payce has long worked with assemblages of multiple vessels, the articulated profiles of which generate figures in the spaces between elements. Albedo consists of a crescent-shaped arrangement that discloses figures of women ranging in age from youth to middle-age. Anita Rocamora's porcelain forms resemble root vegetables. Their delicate shapes and titles recall the passage of time as reflected in natural cycles of growth and decay.

Growth, decay and the instability of matter similarly inspire Linda Sormin, whose erratic assemblages of pinched clay strips, previously fired ceramic shards and found objects are unified by elaborate surfaces of drippy, colourful glazes and gold leaf. Ruth Chambers works with paper-thin slabs of porcelain, which she imprints with various plants, then back-lights to reveal their fragile silhouettes. Her table-shaped sculpture incorporates references to Medalta pickle jars and commemorates the lives of early European settlers who depended on the land in much the same way as the impressed plants and weeds. Rory MacDonald exhibits photographs of blue-and-white decorative finials he placed at locations around Medicine Hat to draw attention to notions of urban boundaries and limits. His photographs of the finials in situ and some remnants of glue where they were installed are all that remain of some parts of this project.

Rankin Inlet artists John Kurok and Roger Aksadjuak provide links between sculptural and functional vessels, exhibiting sturdy hand-built urns encircled with forms of humans and animals modeled in high relief. The figures represent Inuit myths and are beautifully enhanced by their sawdust firing, which adds movement and colour to the natural motifs. Other artists — Alan Lacovetsky, for example — are similarly interested in atmospheric and wood firing, displaying strong traditional forms with surfaces marked by the unpredictable effects of soda, wood ash, and coloured oxides.

Several makers of functional wares embrace the frankly decorative. Katrina Chaytor's elaborate sets of stacking condiment pots and flower holders challenge traditional notions of ornament by incorporating computer symbols into their lush and highly decorated surfaces. Joan Bruneau contrasts rich glazes with red earthenware, embellishing a covered casserole with plastic additions based on pond life. Jim Smith invokes historical references to Renaissance maiolica, pairing a portrait of a pot drawn onto a plate with the pot itself. His command of the medium combined with his mastery of drawing and pattern make an elegant and witty conceit. At the other end of the design spectrum, Sean Kunz's celadon-glazed porcelain cups, saucers, and flask set reflect a Japanese aesthetic with their bold simplicity and presentation.

For those new to contemporary ceramics, this exhibition provides an introduction to some of Canada's most important artists. Other viewers more familiar with the medium might wish for fewer participants and greater representation of work by individual artists. Significantly, the exhibition shares the gallery with the Medicine Hat Potters' Association biannual which showcases local talent. Works in this exhibition range from sculptural tableaux by Yolande Valiquette, whose evocative figures and architectural elements dramatize the plight of refugees, to Harvey Fix's enormous thrown urn and strong functional work. Clearly, these two exhibitions demonstrate that clay remains an important medium of contemporary expression.