Calm to Chaos

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Diane Gwilliam (photo by Troy Funk)

Master potter Diane Gwilliam has always been deeply fascinated by birds. Throughout the spring of 2020, during those odd, too-quiet days, Diane noticed birds returning to places that they had avoided for years. With the Covid Pandemic keeping humanity trapped inside, flocks of birds flooded back into every corner of the community.

A question began to grow. “What if nature could move in? What would that look like?” It pulled at Diane’s imagination, demanding to take shape. She then paired large classical pottery vessels with an altered version nested in, perched upon and pierced by birds.

Through each pair, we witness the shift from structure to wild, a Calm to Chaos. In this exhibition in the Art Gallery of St. Albert’s Staircase space, sparrows, chickadees and red winged blackbirds perch on twigs and rims, or settle into their nests for the night. These birds have made their home inside large ceramic vessels, classical forms reclaimed by nature.

Calm to Chaos runs until November 1.