[BCMA] [media release - Caetani Cultural Centre] IRISH ARTIST DIGS UP LOCAL CLAY! Sarah Ryan to Give a Talk at the Vernon Community Arts Centre

Tue Apr 12 15:46:38 PDT 2016

Public Service Announcement - For Immediate Release

IRISH ARTIST DIGS UP LOCAL CLAY! SARAH RYAN TO GIVE A TALK AT THE VERNON
COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE

Who: Sarah Ryan, Caetani Centre’s Ceramics Artist in Resident

What: Artist Talk and Presentation

Where: Vernon Community Arts Centre

When: Wednesday, April 20th @ 7PM

The Caetani Cultural Center and Vernon Community Arts Centre are pleased to
announce an upcoming artist talk and presentation by visiting ceramics
artist Sarah Ryan. Hailing from Ireland, Sarah is the Caetani Centre’s
newest CeramAiR (Ceramics Artist in Resident). While she has been staying
at the Caetani Cultural Centre, she has been working out of the Vernon
Community Arts Centre since February, continuing her explorations into clay
and process. Her work will culminate with a solo show at the Arts Centre in
May.

Process focused, Sarah has been working with the local clay, beginning with
some excavations along Pottery Road, the area made famous by the local
pioneer potter Axel Ebring in the 1930s. Along the way she has met people
that help her collect and transport the clay, although most of the time
it’s just Sarah, her bike and a backpack. Most recently she has branched
out from Pottery Road and some of the latest clay she has brought back to
the studio comes from a nearby construction site. While the process depends
a lot on the nature of the clay, Ryan says that the work she produces in
the studio is not necessarily the most important part. Not only does the
ritualistic process of digging up and working the clay become a huge part
of her work, but so does the community aspect.

Being a part of the Vernon Community Arts Centre has had an impact on the
work, from the overheard conversations to the sharing of knowledge, the
nature of working in a shared space with other ceramicists adds another
layer of meaning. It could be said that Ryan is bringing the landscape
inside and offering it to the community in a different way. When Sarah
arrived here at the Arts Centre in February, she only brought with her a
notebook and pencil, so everything in her studio now has either been found,
given or lent. Again this goes back to the whole notion of process, through
which relationships are created; relationships with other ceramicists, the
community, the clay and even her bike and backpack.

While some of the work to be exhibited at her upcoming show will be
installation based, much of work that she has been doing involves testing
the properties of the local clay she digs up. Through some minor tweaking,
Sarah and the VCAC studio techs have created a beautiful and surprisingly
stable glaze from the Pottery Road clay. In a sense, she is retracing the
steps of Axel Ebring, although unlike Ebring, her work is not about
production. When her residency concludes, Sarah will leave most if not all
of the clay and glaze testers behind, with the intention of leaving it as a
gift for the community. As she arrived with only a notepad and pencil, that
very well may be what she leaves with.

Please join Sarah at the Vernon Community Arts Centre on Wednesday, April
20th at 7pm for a presentation on her past work, artist residency and
current explorations. And those who might be interested in heading over to
Pottery Road should keep an eye out for little clay figurines that she has
hidden along the way.

For more information, please visit our website www.caetani.ca or feel free
to give us a call 250-275-1525

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