Click for a virtual guided tour through this exhibition.
Duo exhibition with ceramics by Liesbeth Kamp and John Higgins.
The impetus for this joint exhibition was the artists’ participation in an artist-in residence period in north-west China, in the village of Majiayao, supervised by Simone Haak in the spring of 2019. Here they worked side by side on new pieces in an environment steeped in ceramic cultural history; in Majiayao pots are formed and decorated according to a 5000-year-old tradition. The exhibit The Echo of Majiayao, featuring work from all fourteen participants as a reflection of this experience, is still to come and will be shown in 2021, Gallery Terra Delft’s anniversary year.
The Dutch ceramist Liesbeth Kamp makes exciting compositions of forms. Her point of departure is the creation of several round spherical or bowl-like forms which she cuts and assembles. After creating the forms, the painted decoration is applied by coloring with sintered engobes. The decorations are applied as a response to the form, and the surfaces of the interior and exterior are contrastingly colored, which emphasizes the form.
The British ceramist John Higgins crafts his vases, platters and plates with great dynamism. The base of his forms is mad of sheets of clay formed on the wheel. Through throwing, these are deformed and show the effects of this unusual method of preparation: it makes the work unique and rugged. The surfaces are decorated simply with slib and oxides.
Taken together, these works show a diversity of colorful ceramic objects displaying high quality and great mastery.
Liesbeth Kamp: “Form and color have a central position. In the serie ‘underwater world’, I have been inspired by the incredibly beautiful patterns and colors of tropical fish. I have translated these into decorations on my bowl and vase objects, and the objects have received the Latin name of the fish which served as inspiration.”
John Higgins works intuitively, grounded in serious craftsmanship. He is led by the reality of the day, the experience that manifests itself during the creative process. Thus series emerge in which each work is part of a progression, a response to earlier work. Higgins’ work is like a poem in which each new verse emerges from the heart and continues the rhythm of the previous lines.
