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A Personal Statement

(The folowing article appecred fn the June 96
issue of Studio Potter),

bly work is fed by che history of ceramics
and art generally. Tee history as the
inhentance which gives sustenance,
continuity and meaning to contemporary
practice. | do indeed reach back to history
asa way to seek a place in its continuity
and to reaffirm expressive qualities which
endure across time. | am especially
interested in the fact that so many of che
historical pieces which we admire were
made from simple materials using simple
metheds. Despite che sophistication of our
times and the quest for “the New",
contemporary work often pales befare che
achievements of our ancestors. I believe
that life and work can be given more
significance by celebrating the ordinary as
oppeded to che novel.

This raises the question of limitations and
the need for chem in order to have the
freedom to make commitments in depth.
Asa potter [ am faced with myriad choices
—so many thar choice itself becomes
diffieule and confusion reigns. The
smorgastord overlows with plenty —clays,
glaze macerials, firing methods, equipment,
technical information, images, worlds
history and che ongoing dialectic of which
this isa part, Come to think of ir, | never
liked smorgasbords —just too many options
and never enough room on the plate!

A strategy, then, which | have worked out
for myself, is to use as far as possible only
these materials which | ean find direeccly in

the natural environmene. By doing this, |
am obliged to work within established
parameters. This satisfies several needs.
First, limited choices smothers invention.
Second, che process, necessarily
labourious, becomes a more vital and
interesting part of the making. And
third, my celationship and the memory of
journeys made and things discovered.

There was a time when | pored over
images of pots from Japan —Orbe, Shino,
Iga and Bizen. Ac other times, ] became
more engaged with sculpture —Moore,
Noguchi, Brancusi and Arp. Then again,
design made its siren call —Bauhaus
acstheties, domestic architecture, interor
design, less-is-more, the purity of
Minimalism. Now [ am interested in
ideas generated fram the history of still
life painting —Morandi, Bailey and
others.

lam a composite creacure in which rhe
reaches of history have spun many
threads. The limitations that | have
imposed in terms of materials do not seem
to extend to history, cee effects of which
continually influence my thinking, adding
fresh ideas, questions and new areas for
exploration. These ideas, however, are
more or less confined within che narrower
parameters of using naturally occurring
materials. [ see myself, then, as the
geological exnension of the “organically
grown" movement: no chemical
additives to contaminate a wholesome
diet of history.

Tam freeing

“Sell Le" by Tam Invng

The Gallery of BC Catamics
$s pleased fo invite you tg
meet Takes Yasuda ae 4
private viewing Of Selected
Wears:

Thursday October 17th
7pm: Spmiat ha Galery

Exninien will be in the
Galery of BC Coramics fram
September 27 ta October 27,
1956. Spensored by the
University of Ulster

There will be an evening slide
lecture by Takeshi Yasuca

Friday Octover 18th at 7:30 pm
Rm. 323 @ Emiy Carr Collage
Free to workstop participants

and sludeia of ECIAD, others

Eshidition and lecture pregenied
in sanjuncton wath the Takeshy
Yasuda warkshep at the
Shacbat Centra for the Arts an

October 12th & 20th
10 am - 4pm beth days
Please bring your dan lunch

The workshop is

epansored by-

Potler's Guid of 8c
Shadbolt Centre for the Arts
Erniy Carr Institute of Art
and Design

Fraser Vallay Patlers Guild

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