Amy Duval: Into Bloom
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ArtsPlace 950 8 Avenue, PO Box 8521, Canmore, Alberta T1W 2V3
Amy Duval, "Into Bloom," 2021
ceramic mixed media
Amy Duval: Into Bloom
Amy Duval’s work is a metaphor for the simultaneously beautiful and messy nature of the human experience. The wall-based installations make reference to the ever-changing and continuously developing urban landscape of contemporary society, while instilling a sense of hope that arises from the ashes of destruction. The ceramic sculptures are made using a variety of building techniques, and are created through the consideration of an imagined marriage between two opposing ideas: the mechanic and organic.
What kind of new forms and structures would emerge from the combination of these differing concepts? The creation of a hybrid structure is meant to explore the idea of a new form of rebirth, a rebirth that arises from the destruction of worlds coming together in order to create a new one.
About the Artist
Born and raised in North Vancouver, BC, Amy completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in 2017 where she focused on ceramic sculpture and installation based work. Merging slip casted and wheel thrown forms, Amy creates site specific installations that explore her interests in the mechanic, organic, internal and external, as well as drawing and painting. These hybrid forms are simultaneously perverse and familiar, futile and strange, and explore ideas of growth and transformation in relation to machinery and the human body. She sees working directly on the wall as a method of bridging the gap and exploring the tension between sculpture and painting. Currently she is focused on sculptural and installation based work that combines her interests in painting, drawing, and ceramics while exploring various building techniques including slip casting and wheel throwing.
In 2017 she was accepted as a Ceramic Artist in Residence at Harbourfront Centre, Toronto where she lived and worked for two years. She currently resides in Medicine Hat, Alberta, where she continues her private studio practice while working as Studio Technician at the Shaw Centre for Contemporary Ceramics, an International Artist in Residence Program.