A New Context for Newfoundland Ceramics

When I agreed to present at the Planted Pots mini-symposium I knew I would be talking about ceramic practice in Newfoundland and Labrador.  I expected that I would be talking about the influence of the landscape, for example in Alexis Templeton's crystalline glazes, and the influence of Newfoundland heritage, in the case of the slut series of King's Point Pottery.  I knew I wanted to compare Newfoundland with Nova Scotia and Ontario too and what impact not having a NSCAD has had (we have no Walter Ostrom clones) and what impact not having a clay history or clay settler traditions has had.  Both contribute to the fact that there is no distinct Newfoundland regional style. What I didn't expect was that I would be speaking about Newfoundland as a distinct culture or the relationship between Newfoundland and the United States and its military.

I welcome opportunities to think about old things in new ways or to discover new topics.  That's one way I grow as a writer and thinker.  I was prompted to think about the distinct culture of Newfoundland and compare it to Quebec's vision of itself as a distinct culture after The Republic of Doyle got renewed for a second season.  Ex-premier Danny Williams was on the CBC radio saying what a proud day it was for Newfoundland that "Doyle" got renewed and at the same time so did "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" and the "Rick Mercer Report".  And this was against a backdrop of 10% cuts to the CBC by the federal government.  Not long after that, we had the Craft Weekend in early May.  Sure enough, the tri-colours of the old Republic flag were flying everywhere in St. John's.  From speaking with Alexis Templeton, I understand she had a hand in the colours being adopted for the logo that Jennifer Barnable created for the event.  It was obviously smart marketing and the colours dovetail nicely with the spring season as well.

When I tested out my new pet-theory (that Newfoundland saw itself as a culturally distinct society and the suggestion of the Quebec parallel) on Denis Longchamps who has just moved here (in January) from Quebec.  Without hesitation he completely agreed.  

Alexis Templeton's Studio during May Craft Weekend

Now for the U.S. connection.  When I juried the Fusion Fireworks show along with Bruce Cochrane and Christ Gustin last year I was surprised to see that no Newfoundlanders had submitted ceramic work for the event. (Urve Manuel did submit work in glass and was accepted.)  And this is a show with good prize money, documentation, it travels and there is also the opportunity to be acquired for the Burlington Art Centre ceramics permanent collection, which is the largest ceramic collection in a Canadian institution.  The problem is, is that Newfoundland ceramic absence creates a misleading impression and makes it look to the mainland as if we have no serious potters, which is very far from the truth.

I think our focus, in terms of clay in this province, has been directed towards the U.S. and NCECA in particular.  It is obviously the biggest game in North America as far as clay goes.  But it made me think about Newfoundland's long-standing relationship with the States.  For my presentation, I decided to look into that relationship.  This is what I decided to say about it in Halifax,

Instead of looking to the mainland, the focus traditionally has been for Newfoundlanders to look to the United States and there are many precedents for this.  During the 1880s, Newfoundland had its own free-trade agreement with the United States as it did not share in the disputes between Canada and the United States.  Newfoundland granted the U.S. access to its inshore fishery in exchange for duty-free access to U.S. markets for Newfoundland exports.

In more recent history, there was also a strong U.S. military presence in Newfoundland.  During World War II, it extended beyond army and naval bases in St. John's, Stephenville and Argentia to include smaller stations scattered across the island. Intended to strengthen the defence of Newfoundland and the U.S., these installations–with Winston Churchill's blessing– included radar sites, radio transmitters, and repeater stations used to establish an island-wide communications network.  The Americans built the telephone system in Newfoundland–not the British Empire.  Certain sites, such as the repeater stations, were large undertakings that required civilian help to build while others were shrouded in so much secrecy that not even local residents were aware of their functions.  However, nothing could prevent Americans and Newfoundlanders from intermarriage and strengthening the U.S.-Newfoundland bond.

Jason Holley grew up in a military family.  I think the contrast between the militaristic strength and clay vulnerability that is expressed in his work– the illusion of strength and control comes from his family experience.    That aspect was also something that was rewarding to think about for the presentation.  This is what I say in the talk about it,

When I saw Jason's card advertising his participation at The Artist Project with a tag line "The finished product looks so strong, militaristic, permanent, it's not."  I said to him, "That's about your father isn't it?"  His simple response was, "my work has always been about my father."

Michael Flaherty is the other younger maker that I talk about in the presentation.  His last show, Rangifers Sapiens, provided an opportunity to also discuss the issues of resettlement and the challenge to our natural environment.  So, although I talk a lot about pots and our wider ceramic circle in the province, everyone from the older generation of Margo Meyer and Ray Mackie to the "youngsters" Jason Holley and Michael Flaherty, it also turns out to be a crash course in Newfoundland history and culture from pre-Confederation to today's Republic of Doyle.  Not exactly just showing pictures from home and bragging about my kids.

Trying to make sense of the Galapagos Island that is Newfoundland ceramics

Platter by Isabella St. John 2011

This past week I have been chipping away at my upcoming presentation at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design on contemporary ceramic practice in Newfoundland and Labrador, amongst other things. 

I am tempted to think of ceramic practice here as being a kind of Galapagos Island –a relatively isolated place where weird and wonderful things take place that you don't see anywhere else.  I know that's not literally true but I have been struck over the years at how eccentric ceramic practice is on our island.  For example, Bavarian born Margo Meyer taught several potters during the 1970s who went on to become professional potters.  But none of them produced work that in anyway resembled Margo's work, which was gaily painted, functional ware in the spirit of folk pottery.  I am Austrian on my mother's side of the family and I can tell you without exaggeration that I have seen whole towns in the Alps that produce functional and decorative ware that looks like a first cousin to Meyer's wares. 

Feast of Pottery, an annual project masterminded by potter Alexis Templeton that brings together some of the best pottery in the province in an event-based retail environment.

Isabella St. John was a student of Margo's but you'd never know it from any of her ceramic work done at any point in her career.  I think St. John's gift is that she always knew what her own artistic vision was and she never compromised it.  Isabella listens to her own muse.  Her work is varied and it would be easy to look, say at her sculpture of Cormorant Woman, and then to look at her towers series, and think they were made by two completely different people.  Alexis Templeton, in turn, was a student of Isabella's but you'd never know if from her crystalline glazes.  There is no resemblance between Isabella's work and Alexis and from watching the two of them in their respective studios I don't see a similarity in process or methodology either.

Reed Weir at work in her studio on the Horizon Watchers series

Last week, I was working with Reed Weir, writing the essay and revising it in preparation for her Horizon Watchers solo show at the Mary E. Black Gallery in Halifax.  It was the culmination of a long process of telephone interviews and e-guided question and answer sessions.  I get teased that I should have been a shrink and reviewing my notes in Reed's file I can see why.  Weir is a very intense artist and I was able to use that intensity to go successively deeper with my questions and then help her refine the answers.  She is incredibly dedicated and I have no doubt that she will succeed in her career. 

Reed is lucky to have had the support of her dealer Jonathon Bancroft Snell over the years.  He is a man with a mission and it isn't necessarily commercial.  This week he mentioned to me in conversation, that his was the only gallery where you could walk in and see not only Reed's sculptural work but her production work too.  He has everything from a loon whistle to her most resolved examples of figurative sculpture.  I think he's interested in the whole story that is Reed Weir and that is rare.  In Weir's sculpture I see an important shift from the local to the global and universal.  I'll tell you more about that when her show opens on June 15th.

Gloria Hickey's Police father taught writer/curator to pay attention to the details

The Enigmas of a teapot by Michael Massie, 2003, which was made for a collector who shared Michael's interest in Dali.  

Inside a Crafts Writer's Mind

When I am stopped on the street or in a gallery and someone says they like the blog.  I usually ask them, "what do you most enjoy about it?" and the surprisingly consistent answer I have heard is that they enjoy seeing how my mind works.  So, I've decided to share with you an article that was written about my methods by Susan Gay Decker that first appeared Tuesday, August 2, 2011 in the Telegram. The text appeared with different images.

Gloria Hickey's art beat

Police father taught writer/curator to pay attention to the details

By Susan Gay Decker

Special to the Telegram

Gloria Hickey, who was awarded the first ever Critical Eye Award for arts writing at the Excellence in Visual Arts (EVA) Awards May 27, says it was her father, a police officer in the Montreal vice squad, who first taught her how to look at things closely.

We'd be driving around and then stop at a set of lights and a man would walk in front of the car.  He'd ask, "What do you notice about him?" "He walks funny. Why does he walk funny? One leg is shorter than the other? And we'd peel away the layers like that until we could feel what he had in his pocket."

Her observational exercises with her dad were to be excellent training for her future career in arts writing and reviewing in which attention to details and their significance are paramount.

Hickey later built on her skills by studying journalism at Carleton, and then completing a master's degree in philosophy of art at the University of Toronto.

She now has been a professional arts writer and curator for 30 years and has published more than 250 articles in major newspapers, art magazines and books.  Sounding curiously similar to a detective, Hickey says that what gives her the most pleasure about arts writing is putting the pieces of a puzzle together.

She recalls working with Inuit artist Michael Massie when she was curating his 2006 exhibit, "Silver and Stone, the art of Michael Massie" at The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery.

Hey Wait for Me, by Michael Massie.

When he told her that his favourite European artists were the surrealists, Hickey recognized the similarity between the surrealist interest in the subconscious and the way Inuit art draws on the dream world.

Researching further, she then found that surrealists had also expressed an interest in Inuit art and that noted painter Max Ernst had even been a collector.

Making these kinds of connections that enrich the meaning of the artist's work is really satisfying for Hickey.

"Artists don't always put the pieces together for themselves and so you're taking them by the hand and giving them a tour through their world," she says.

Hickey acknowledges that one of the challenges of writing about art is the responsibility to represent an artist's work appropriately.

I'm a little teapot, by Michael Massie, 2003.

As an example, she describes a painting by a Newfoundland artist that depicts a moose carcass being carved up like a side of beef in someone's garage.

"I could say that's a Newfoundland version of a still life, or I can say it's a portrait of domestic violence, and what I choose to say about it really makes for a different relationship between the public and that work of art."

A new award for critical art writing, the Critical Eye Award, celebrates the best piece of critical writing about a Newfoundland and Labrador artist in any print or online publication worldwide.

Hickey won the award for her article on Newfoundland craftsman, Jason Holley, published in Fusion Magazine in its Winter 2010 issue.

What are you planting? Planted Pots and more…

Ceramic chainmaille sculpture by Jason Holley of Newfoundland

This spring week I have been working on a variety of projects that will bear fruit in the coming months.  Rarely do I get the opportunity to work on only one thing at a time…that's real life isn't it?  We all live there.

This is what I'd like to share with you this week: an upcoming ceramics symposium in Halifax.

I am really looking forward to this. Why? For one:  I get to work with some dynamite colleagues of mine.  Like Sandra Alfoldy the reigning queen of Canadian craft theory and the current curator of ceramics at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia; Rachel Gotlieb the tell-it-like-it-is new curator of contemporary ceramics at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art in TO; and Robin Metcalfe, my favourite, fearless bad boy of the curatorial world, who is the director and curator at Saint Mary's University Art Gallery, and the venue for the next stop on the Alexandra McCurdy tour.   

One of Alexandra McCurdy's prints from her lingerie series.  Working on this show gave me a whole new appreciation of the evolution of feminism.

Reason number two:  The collections and shows that I will get to see. Sandra A will be showing us her new toys or recent acquisitions at the AGNS. St. Mary's will have a little jewel box of a show of historical ceramics and the opening of the McCurdy show will be one of the events as well.  Alex and I have worked out a walk and talk where we bounce back and forth from the artist's perspective and the curator's perspective.  Believe me they aren't the same.  But like yin and yang they fit together.

Reason number three:  the talks, I am looking forward to hearing the presentations of my colleagues, catching up on shop talk, conspiring for the future and making my own presentation, which will be about contemporary ceramic practice in my home province of Newfoundland and Labrador.  I have seen such growth in the field of ceramics within NL since 1993.  It is staggering.  Yeah team!

See you there.

Planted Pots: Ceramics in Context

A Symposium

NSCAD University, Bell Auditorium

Friday, 25 May 2012

Co-presented by                         NSCAD University, Craft Division &

                                                Saint Mary's University Art Gallery

Planted Pots: Ceramics in Context examines issues associated with ceramics on display in Halifax this May: how social realities such as immigration and the status of women in mid-century Canada are reflected in the development of ceramics, particularly in Atlantic Canada, and the introduction of European Modernist aesthetics to local ceramics practice. Exhibited works include mid-century ceramics by immigrant couples (Alma & Ernst Lorenzen; Erica & Kjeld Deichmann), contemporary works by trans-Atlantic immigrants such as Roman Bartkiw and Alexandra McCurdy, and ceramics by emerging Atlantic ceramists such as Jason Holley.

An opening reception for the symposium will begin at 6:00 pm on Thursday, 24 May at Saint Mary's University Art Gallery, in conjunction with the opening of the exhibitions The Fabric of Clay: Alexandra McCurdy (a collaboration with Burlington Art Centre; curator: Gloria Hickey) and Lorenzen Pottery: 50 Years in the Making (curator: Victor Owen).

Symposium Schedule

1:00 pm            Welcome & opening remarks – Robin Metcalfe, Director/Curator, Saint Mary's University Art Gallery

1:15 pm            Married to Pottery: a presentation by Rachel Gotlieb, Senior Curator, Gardiner Museum, on mid 20th Century European immigrant ceramists in Canada who worked collaboratively as husband and wife

2:15 pm            Coffee break

2:30 pm            Clay on the Rock: Critic & curator Gloria Hickey on contemporary ceramics in Newfoundland & Labrador

3:30 pm            Wrap up – Dr Sandra Alfoldy, Professor of Craft History & Chair, Historical and Critical Studies, NSCAD University and Associate Curator of Fine Craft, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

4:00 pm            Sandra Alfoldy will give a Curator’s Tour of ceramics on exhibit at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, including work by Jason Holley and Roman Bartkiw, and a special peek at recently acquired works by Erica and Kjeld Deichmann.

5:00 pm            Social time: open for participants to avail themselves of the many bars and restaurants in downtown Halifax

Calling all Craft Curators: Dirty, Democratic & Exquisite

Invitation image from Dirt, Detrius & Vermin- exhibition at Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery, a curatorial composition of the work of Cal Lane (dirt lace on the floor), Sarah Wright Cheney (exquisite onion skin cockroaches) and Sarah Saunders (whisper thin porcelain hankies) ran 21 May 2011 to 8 August 2011 co-curated by Ingrid Jenker & Katie Belcher - one of my all time favourite shows!

Title: Dirty, Democratic & Exquisite,

A round-table on Curatorial Strategies for Craft in 2012

There has never been a more exciting or rewarding time to be a curator working with craft than now.  Through practices like post-disciplinary craft, sloppy craft and craftivism, craft has gained a new social and intellectual relevance to a growing audience among the general public, special interest groups, and professional and non-professional craft practioners.  Performance art, intangible cultural heritage, and up-cycling have eroded the status of the connoiseur's craft object and questioned previously valued notions of precious materials and labour-soaked and skill based techniques.  Professors Google and You Tube threaten both traditional master-apprentice and its later more contemporary incarnations of learning models at art and design colleges.  Global citizenship blurs regional craft traditions.  The practice and products of craft have never been more diverse and unpredictable. 

From In an ancient garden: Lucky Rabbit Pottery (Debra Kuzyk & Ray Mackie) this was in the downstairs gallery at MSVU at the same time as the show in the previous image.  I had an absolute blast with the colour for these walls.

How does the radically changing social and economic landscape impact the professional practice of craft curation?  What curatorial strategies are most appropriate to craft exhibitions and events?  What has worked in your experience as a curator?

Curators practicing in the fields of "art and design", craft and aboriginal culture are invited to submit proposals – comprised of a list of questions or issues they wish to discuss plus a short bio – for a round table discussion of curatorial strategies for craft in 2012.  Participants should expect to speak formally for ten minutes with the support of visuals in a Powerpoint format.

The colour was meant to showcase the pottery but also to evoke their inspiration.  The spice of the Far East for example where Deb & Ray and their daughter have been travelling.  The staff at MSVU were a pleasure to work with.

Interested parties should contact:  Gloria Hickey, 16 Byron Street, St. John's, NL A1B 3B7, (709) 753-0623, gloriah@nf.sympatico.ca with a short list of questions or issues they would like to discuss and a short bio before June 4, 2012.

The conference will be November 1-3, 2012 in Montreal at Concordia University.  Here is the link to the Universities Art Association of Canada website:

http://www.uaac-aauc.com/

Ego, Glass and the Economic Downturn

Transparent Banded Vortex Vase by Michael Trimpol of Little River Hotglass, all photos courtesy of Michael

From April 7 to the 14th, I had the good fortune to visit my native city of Montreal – something I had not done for ten years.  Even with the student protests, rolling strikes at Air Canada and general mayhem it was thoroughly enjoyable.  Of course, I went to museums, galleries and bookstores but I was most impressed with the store windows.  I had forgotten what a sense of style pervades the city from food to fashion.

One of the highlights of the trip was an evening's visit with longtime friend, Michael Trimpol, of Little River Hotglass, which is based in Stowe Vermont.  I have always been fond of Michael and a fan of his work in glass.  They both possess a quiet confidence, a certain inevitability and a complete lack of pretence.  They are what they are.  Trimpol used to be, perhaps still is, a collector of seashells.  His perfume bottles and vases have a striking, simple beauty like the world of organic objects.  Vibrantly coloured, precisely detailed and memorable.  Have you ever stared at a tropical fish and thought this couldn't be designed any better?  The colour is perfect, the stripe is in exactly the right place…that's the way I feel about Michael Trimpol's glass objects.  They are drop dead gorgeous.  And that's it…no message, no banners, no meaning that I need to decode.  I know I need beauty in my life, like I need sunshine and that's what I get from his glass.

 Transparent Banded Bowl

I have always been struck by Michael's lack of swagger.  The glass art world has more than its share of egotists.  Dale Chihuly years and years ago was visibly annoyed with me for not acting like a groupy.  And I've had Lutz Haufschild tell me with an absolute straight face that he had a superiority complex!  Glass artists are the rock stars of the craft world.  I won't go on about it.  Suffice it to say, that Michael Trimpol is extraordinary for his lack of bravado in and out of the studio.

Glass art has obtained some of the highest prices in the craft marketplace.  I wonder if it is taking a beating in the economic downturn.  After dinner, Michael and I peered in the windows of Birks the jewellery and fine collectibles store.  Naturally, we studied the glass together.  And we compared notes over Ireland and the fate of Waterford crystal, which has been laying off glassblowers.  Competition for the leisure dollar has never been fiercer.  It will be interesting to watch future trends.  May Little River Hotglass live long and prosper.

Perfume Bottles and Paperweight from the Helix group of designs by Michael Trimpol of Little River Hotglass 

"I don't collect art, I collect artists"

1886-1919 by Michael Flaherty, white earthenware,glaze, terra sigillata, photo courtesy of the artist

I spent a good part of my energy last week rewriting an article for C magazine.  It is a review of Michael Flaherty's exhibition Rangifer Sapiens, which translates from Latin, as wise caribou.  I have always been interested in Flaherty's work because it was clear he stood out from the herd (no pun intended).  He was a very different kind of creature than most potters or ceramic artists that I have had the pleasure and occasionally frustration of working with or writing about. 

And I know a good number of clay folk.  You figure when I edited Fusion magazine back in Toronto the Ontario Clay and Glass Association had a membership of 800.  I've also worked with the Nova Scotia Guild of Potters and similar groups in New Brunswick, Alberta, etc.  One of my fondest memories is of working out at Banff for Les Manning.  I have a collection of thank you pots from Robert Archambeau, Harlan House, Ron Roy, Lucky Rabbit Pottery, Brian Banfield, King's Point Pottery, and sculpture from Ann Roberts, Reed Weir and Aleksandr Sorotchynski.  A collector once asked me "what kind of art do you collect?"  To which I responded, "I don't collect art, I collect artists.  (The flip side of that is because I was an arts writer I couldn't afford to purchase from galleries.)

1882-1951 by Michael Flaherty, white earthenware,glaze, terra sigillata, photo courtesy of the artist

When I moved to St. John's, NL the thank you presents were at first from painters like Shawn O'Hagan and others.  I've also framed my thank you prints from Christine Koch.  I have a tiny framed weaving of a polar bear from Suzanne Swannie that she made after her time in the arctic.  I still remember her saying about the Inuit ladies she worked with, "they sew like angels".  She really prized those tiny neat stitches.  It resonated with her European sensibility of masterful technique.  There was a touring show from the Textile Museum that was on at a gallery in Halifax a few years ago.  It featured a 2-storey high figure of a plump naked woman made out of plush, acrylic fur.  In retrospect I realize it was about body image and related issues.  When we talked about that show, Suzanne said simply that it made her sick.  She found it revolting.  That's when I realized how the landscape of craft was changing.  It wasn't just about technique or materials anymore it was about issues.  Big issues.

By the time that review of C magazine rolls off the presses it will represent more than two weeks of my time.  I spent a day in the Newfoundland Study Centre at the MUN library reading about caribou (can you tell the difference from a Newfoundland caribou and a Labrador caribou?), days on line reading about resettlement in the province, I looked at back issues of C magazine, researched Flaherty's past work and of course spent at least two hours in the exhibition I was reviewing drawing and making notes.  The funny thing is I don't know whether I will get paid for it.  I never even asked. Occasionally I write for scholarly journals because I enjoy the critical rigour and the disciplined thinking it requires.  They usually don't offer writer's fees, as their writers are career academics, which are expected to "publish or perish".  C magazine has an excellent editor, Amish Morrell.  He is thoughtful and sensitive and knows how to read between the lines and tease out ideas.  Working with him is professional development for me as a thinker and writer.  My other motive in doing the article is that I want to encourage Michael Flaherty.  I don't know his career aspirations per se but I suspect he is destined for a university or art college position.  His work deserves critical attention and if he wants that position in the future he will need a resume with a review from C magazine on it.