One East Asia in Singapore is holding an exhibition by 5 ceramic artists from Southeast Asia. The show looks at the dialogue between the artists’ innovative and experimental ceramic practices that advocate the recognition of ceramics as fine art.
Installation view of “Ceramicship” at One East Asia Artspace, Singapore. Image courtesy One East Asia Pte Ltd.
“Ceramicship” is an exhibition of works by five Southeast Asian ceramic artists, running from 1 to 31 July 2014 at One East Asia Artspace in Singapore. The show features work by
These five artists have collaborated and exhibited together previously, including at “Ring of Fire – The First Southeast Asian Ceramics Festival” at Ayala Museum, Manila in 2009.
In “Ceramicship”, the artists continue their dialogue, now focused on their recent practice, demonstrating how their works transcend national and historical boundaries and reflect their indigenous interests. The five artists raise discussions around history and culture, tradition and technique from different Southeast Asian ceramic practices and perspectives, prompting the examination of a dual approach.
As expressed in the press release,
The approach has been two-pronged: the one being incorporation of traditional workings and its formal aspects into the created object by Pettyjohn and Tan; and the second being a modernist approach to re-creating form and meaning by Ahadiat, Bathma and Low.
Installation view of “Ceramicship” at One East Asia Artspace, Singapore. Image courtesy One East Asia Pte Ltd.
Ceramics as art
In recent years, there has been a growth of ceramic art on the international art stage. Still widely considered more as a craft than as fine art, the perspective is slowly changing. As reported in The Art Newspaper, ten years ago many artists were afraid of being pigeonholed if they made ceramics. But now, “they don’t think of it as a secondary medium,” says Renee McKee of McKee Gallery, which showed ceramic art at Art Basel this June.
Jed Morse, the chief curator of the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Texas, says:
We’re seeing artists incorporating ceramics into their work more and more.
The artists in “Ceramicship” are all strong advocates of bringing ceramic art to the fore and making it widely recognised as a fine art medium.
Ahadiat Joedawinata, ‘My Archipelago’, 2012, pinching, glaze, stoneware, 47 x 30 x 35 cm. Image courtesy One East Asia Pte Ltd.
Ahadiat Joedawinata
Ahadiat Joedawinata (b. 1943, Cirebon, West Java, Indonesia) spent time training during his high school years at the Artist’s Studio (Sanggar Seniman), Bandung, under the tutelage of leading artists But Muchtar, Srihadi Soedarsono, A.D. Pirous, and Adrin Kahar. He holds a Doctorate from the Bandung Institute of Technology, where he now lectures. In addition to his own artistic practice, which includes the exploration of traditional crafts such as wood, earthenware and bamboo, Joedawinata also designs exhibitions and interiors at his residence and abroad and runs a ceramic studio from his home.
Joedawinata’s ceramic works closely follow his belief that “the material has its own language.” He shapes his thin ceramics by pinching and coiling, an extremely delicate and detailed process. The glaze is another important step in his practice, which is not easy to control and depends on the firing process. His practice focuses on the technical and formal aspects of ceramics, guided by the principle that the material communicates with the artist’s hands in an instinctual, natural way. This process results in a variety of shapes, including functional and more sculptural pieces.
Alvin Tan Teck Heng, ‘Conversation 4′, 2014, woodfiring, natural ash, 31 x 51.5cm. Image courtesy One East Asia Pte Ltd.
Alvin Tan Teck Heng
Alvin Tan Teck Heng (b. 1961, Singapore) started working with pottery eighteen years ago. His ceramics teacher was a second-generation dragon kiln owner, whose kiln was demolished by the government in 1994. Teck Heng trained in the traditional way, and he believes that contemporary ceramics build on the foundation of the ancient art of pottery. He is also the curator of the “Ceramicship” exhibition at One East Asia, where he had his first solo exhibition “Clay Voyage” in 2013.
Inspired by traditional ceramics in both formal and technical aspects, Teck Heng’s work pays tribute to past masters. The artist closely follows their legacy and creates traditional items, such as his renowned teapots and teacups series or his large-scale sculptural relief vases that mimic natural shapes and patterns.
Bathma Kaew-Ngok, ‘Enlightenment’, 2014, stoneware, Raku with teak, 25 x 51cm. Image courtesy One East Asia Pte Ltd.
Bathma Kaew-Ngok
Bathma Kaew-Ngok (b. 1971, Bangkok) majored in Ceramic Art from the Faculty of Fine and Applied Art at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok in 1997. After graduating, Kaew-Ngok went to Chiangmai to learn from local ceramicists. He then moved to Japan to study Iga-Yaki – a Japanese style of ceramic art that emphasises nature in its materials and processes – with a Japanese master, Kanji Atarashi, from whom he also learnt about Zen philosophy. This dual approach, practical and spiritual, taught him that ceramic art is not just working with clay, but also understanding the spirit of nature and being one with it. He says:
My heart became more peaceful. When I considered the fact of the resource, I found it is life itself. Nature is not so difficult to learn, actually it is very simple, but perhaps we have never tried.
Kaew-Ngok’s work expresses this cohesion between man and nature, giving life to artworks that embody the spirit of nature and the effortless intervention of man. His ceramics, in their almost rudimentary, imperfect shapes and glazes, seem to be fashioned out of soil and wood. In earthy, subtle colours, they appear as if they have been unearthed after having been buried for long.
Jon Lorenzo Pettyjohn, ‘Palayok Series 1′, celadon glaze with iron design stoneware, 25 x 27cm. Image courtesy One East Asia Pte Ltd.
Jon Lorenzo Pettyjohn
Jon Lorenzo Pettyjohn (b. 1950) was born in Okinawa to Filipino-American parents. He studied ceramics at the Escuela Masana in Barcelona, Spain from 1972 to 1976 and was later an apprentice in a Spanish workshop for two years. Having been a potter for thirty years, Pettyjohn admits that ceramics are still widely considered a craft as opposed to art, but he is positive that perspectives are starting to change:
A lot of people still have this idea that art is painting, or sculpture that art isn’t functional (as opposed to decorative). There’s this sort of elitist thinking going on, but slowly, we’re starting to change that.
Pettyjohn has been part of the movement for the recognition of ceramics as an art in the Philippines since 1978. In 2003, he founded the Putik Association of Philippine Potters, with a group of professional and amateur clay artists. The association has organised events, exhibitions and university programmes, supported international scholarships for potters and the rehabilitation of the less fortunate youth through pottery therapy.
Pettyjohn’s practice is rooted in tradition and functionality, reworking traditional forms and decorations, he creates ceramic pieces that are both decorative and functional.
Peter Low Hwee Min, ‘Vase with wooden stand’ in “Colourful Cloud” series, reduction gas firing, slab work, 74 x 25cm. Image courtesy One East Asia Pte Ltd.
Peter Low Hwee Min
Peter Low Hwee Min (b. 1943, Malaysia) studied Oil and Chinese Painting at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Art (NAFA) in Singapore. He then majored in Ceramic Art and Printmaking from the England West Surrey College of Arts & Design, United Kingdom. He now teaches at NAFA and is an advocate of experimentation in ceramic art.
His work ranges from functional pieces to sculptural and mixed media ceramics that incorporate materials as varied as wood, glass, paper and bamboo. Low emphasises the integration of traditional skills and contemporary creativity in many of his ceramics, modernist forms and sculptural elements are juxtaposed with traditional motifs and decorations. Low approaches ceramic art in a painterly and experimental way, creating work with surfaces that become canvases to enhance the textural and malleable quality of clay. He bridges the realms of craft and sculpture, art and function.
C. A. Xuan Mai Ardia
425
Related Topics: Southeast Asian artists, ceramics, tradition in contemporary art, overviews, artist profiles, gallery shows, events in Singapore
Related Posts:
Subscribe to Art Radar for more on ceramic art from Asia