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Laurie Rolland: Harbinger ay Amy Gogaryy

Exhibiting at the Gallery of BC Ceramics
July 7 to Aug. 7.

Since 1997, ceramic sculptor Laurie Rolland
has worked with boats as metaphorical vessels
conveying ideas, spiritual references and
healing energy. Rolland was a core member
of the BC collective Fired Up! from 1994
to 2004, and she has exhibited her work
nationally and internationally. Her exhibition
Harbinger at the Gallery of BC Ceramics
runs from July 7 to August 7. The artist lives
in Sechelt where her daily interactions with
the natural world clearly inspire her. As she
describes it, “A deep reverence for the natural
world, combined with an interest in ancient
earth-based religions, informs this work.”

Rolland attaches short explanatory texts
to many of her works in the exhibition.
While these provide interesting insight into
the artist’s thinking, they can also distract.
For example, a series of plates entitled the
Continuum Series features lines and circles,
which the artist asserts represent “male and
female...and the healing of conflict between
the two,” but the works can also be enjoyed
for their attractive use of geometric elements
devoid of symbolism. In some cases, however,
her preoccupations are well-supported, as with
her signature Harbinger Series #2. This consists
of a clay vessel wrapped in what appear to be
reeds; it balances on rusty nails that protrude
from a boat-shaped piece of driftwood. Honey
coloured in the highlights and darker where
stains have been rubbed into the textured
reeds, the work is “freighted’—heavy with
symbolic import, poetry and a sense of
containment. For Rolland, the boat represents
the spirit of hope and peace floating above
the often “thorny” problems of the real world

represented by the rusty nails and driftwood.
As a harbinger, it brings the hope of healing
and change to come.

Other works speak to the artist’s interest in
ancient symbols, spirituality and the dualisms
of light and dark, time and space, birth and
death. Skeletal Vessel depicts the ribs of an
abandoned boat, suggesting parallels between
the vessel and a once-living body. The ribs
and keel are constructed from flattened clay
strips lashed together much as a primitive
boat might have been, and it is stained to
appear weathered and ancient. Cargo Vessel
with Rattle Seed Pod is powerful in its stark
simplicity. Constructed as an open slab vessel,
the surface puckered with a brown and rust
glaze, the boat ferries a pod-shaped rattle,
which is dark and redolent of life within. The
work effectively conveys tranquility and a
sense of life’s passage through time.

‘The artist is quite inventive when forming
and combining components, as is borne out
in a series of Small Totems. These consist of
sculptural forms that resemble crustacean
claws or ancient stone tools. They have a
pleasing scale, volume and surface texture,
which makes them amenable to handling and
open to a variety of playful arrangements.
They seem to be maquettes or experiments
that have received further development in
In the Garden, a work in which three alert
figures with strongly articulated and textured.
bodies stand guard within a dark receptacle.
For the artist, the dark colour represents
fertility and the boat form a garden of earthly
paradise. One figure is topped with upright
horns, which traditionally designate the Great
Mother goddess, while the two other totems

combine eccentric and strongly textured units

Totem, by Laurie Rolland.

such as those found in other works in the
exhibition. The work recalls the late sculptures
of Max Ernst, which were influenced by his
contact with native culture in the American
Southwest. In works such as Ju the Garden,
Rolland brings together her impressive skills
and personal language of form to respond
authentically to ancient myth and spirituality.

PGBC Members’ Day Trip to Victoria 8) Jackie Frioua

Our 2010 bus trip to the Bellevue Art Museum for the Clay
Throwdown was so much fun that the Potters’ Guild is in the
planning stage of another day trip, this time to the Art Gallery of
Greater Victoria.

Back to the Land is a show of ceramics from Island Potters from
the 1970's and 80's. For more information visit http://aggv.ca/
exhibitions/back-land.

We will have a guided tour and hopefully a chance to meet up
with Guild members from the Island.

‘The date we are considering is Oct. 20, and the cost for members
will be approximately $100 - $115 for the bus, ferry and entrance

fee. The bus will leave from Granville Island, with a second pick up
closer to Tsawwassen if required.

**Please let us know if you are interested so we can start to firm up
our plans by emailing Jackie Frioud at jfrioud@shaw.ca by Sept. 1,
and type "Back to the Land” in the subject line.

We need at least 24 people to go ahead.

**Tsland potters, please let us know if you'd like to join us at the
gallery. We'd love a chance to get together with you. Again, email
jfrioud@shaw.ca.

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Potters Guild of BC Newsletter « July/August 2012

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