Residency
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NUHATIMMU CERAMIC RESIDENCY - IMISO CERAMICS STUDIO, SOUTH AFRICA, AUG-SEP 2020
The driving force behind this work is rooted in my graduate studies in Mesopotamian archaeology, which focuses on the Yale Babylonian culinary tablet, formally known as YOS 11 25 and Bronze age cooking pots. My extensive knowledge of Mesopotamian material culture, as well as my experience of working with ancient ceramics, greatly influences my vessels.
My research is based on a constant search for the best way to interpret and re-create the ideas I have about ancient cooking and the pots and cooking systems ancient people used to cook in and on. In order to do this, I cannot limit myself to one medium, style or concept. Each piece I create is simultaneously an extension to the ancient past, as well at the same time, it is also a preview of where we are going in the future, a full circle in a way. In order to facilitate this connection to the Ancient past, I picked up special stone shaped tools during my last excavation at Hazor, Israel. These stone tools were used extensively in shaping the cooking pots, as I imagined this was done in the past.
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​I created the cooking pots and stove, during a six-week ceramic residency at IMISO studios, co-owned by Andile Dyalvanne and Zizipho Poswa. During this time, I not only made the cooking system, I also recreated and cooked one of the recipes found on the ancient cuneiform tablet, called Tuhu lamb stew.
'RISE' CERAMICS RESIDENCY - FRANCE, FEB-MARCH 2020
'Rise' ceramics residency was facilitated by Dr. Wendy Gers, Ph.D. board member at Studio Potter, curator and art historian. The residency took place at the ceramic studio of Lauren Kearns, director of International Artist Residency Exchange (IARE), contributor to Ceramics Monthly, and former resident at the Archie Bray Foundation, in St. Raphael, France.
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It was a wonderful experience and under the guidance of Dr. Wendy Gers, I developed
enormously on a professional level. She guided us in developing a sustainable long-term artist career which involved reworking our artist statements, biographies and by doing weekly evaluating discussions and exercises she helped us discover where we lacked as an artist in order to grow and develop not only a new body of work but also develop our art practice on a professional level.
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Joining me in the residency was ceramic artist from all over the world who came from the U.S, Belgium, Mauritius, Australia and Netherlands. Each artist worked towards establishing new ideas as well as physically work on new bodies of work. It was wonderful to not only learn from each other but also each week we got valuable and honest formal critique from Lauren and Wendy on what we were creating in the studio.
We expanded our professional networks and we made life long friendships. There have also been discussions of future collaborations between some of the Rise participants which I am very excited about. It is definitely an experience I can recommend to anybody who is looking to push their art career to the next level.
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For more information on the International residency Exchange:
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www.ceramicsresidency.com
www.internationalartistresidencyexchange.com
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