Opens Wed 23 November, 6 – 8pm
Exhibition runs Thu 24 Nov – Sun 4 Dec 2016
Gallery Hours: Thu – Sun, 12 – 5pm
Artist Talk: Saturday 26 November, 2pm
Mineralia showcases new sculptural forms by Jenni Eleutheriades
Both alchemist and artist, Eleutheriades creates her works though the complex process of crystalline glazing. The hand-made mimics the natural, calling to mind the geodes and minerals beneath the earth’s surface.
Crystals are grown through the firing process; other surfaces are encrusted with glitter and beads. Mineralia beckons the audience into a world of wonder and nostalgia, whilst quietly challenging assumptions about contemporary ceramic practice.
Artist Statement
As a child I had my own small cardboard chest hidden away in my room. I would fill it with special pretty rocks, gemstones and plastic jewels. I even convinced my mother to buy me an enormous lump of rose quartz and amethyst for the chest. I would sit in my room with my chest spilled out all over my bed and marvel at how beautiful all my tiny treasures were.
This need for me to collect objects that provide me with a sense of wonder has never changed. However a collection that once only included pretty rocks and gems is now filled with other items such as photographs, drawings, poems and items of clothing. Although I do now see beauty in much more than just rocks, my original collection does hold a special place in my heart and I do still find a profound enjoyment in looking upon them.
The enjoyment I feel however is primarily nostalgic, based on memories of a 5 year old girl mesmerized by simple objects that shone and glittered brilliantly in the light.
The personal experiences and responses that one has between various objects has been the main source of my inspiration throughout my practice. As with my original collection of pretty rocks and gemstones, my work is inspired by nature in all its boundless, spiritual substance. I am a fully grown woman chasing the sublime experiences of a 5 year old girl that I feel only nature can provide.
I create my work by mimicking a natural process. Through the use of mediums such as clay, zinc, quartz and oxides to name a few, I am able to grow my own crystals on the surface of my hand built forms. The crystals are grown via an intricate firing cycle that mimics the earth’s own temperature beneath the crust.
Jenni Eleutheriades
Artist
Curator Essay
Mineralia showcases new sculptural forms by Jenni Eleutheriades. Both alchemist and artist, Eleutheriades creates her works though the complex process of crystalline glazing. The hand-made mimics the natural, calling to mind the geodes and minerals beneath the earth’s surface.
Collectively, the works tread a line between structure and spontaneity, the artistic and the scientific, the serious and the playful. Questions are subtly posed to the audience: are we in a natural history museum or an art gallery? Are these man-made or natural forms?
The works in Mineralia stem from the artist’s childhood fascination with crystals and geodes. As a young girl, Eleutheriades would pour over her collection of semi-precious stones for hours, delighting in their colour, tactility and form. Now she invests hours in the creation of her own sculptures, moulding forms from clay and growing crystals on their surface through the firing process. Pearlescent greens and impossibly vivid blues meet and bleed into each other, appearing at once natural and other-worldly.
Once glazed, each work is placed directly into the kiln. Being heated to upwards of 1200°C then cooled to a stable temperature stimulates crystal growth, the results of which always vary. Each firing brings its own story to the table, with the artist being able to predict – but never control – the outcome.
This, of course, means that selection becomes an important element in Eleutheriades’ process. After a firing, each piece is carefully studied; some are deemed delightful surprises, others will never be displayed.
What is it, though, which qualifies one work to be deemed an artwork and another to be rejected? Many times in my visits to the artists’ studio I have come across something new and asked, “what about this one?” It might be the depth or hue of a glaze; the pattern of the crystals too rhythmic on a works’ surface. But more often than not it is something elusive; something which can’t quite be verbalised. It seems to me that a piece which is relegated to the scrapheap simply does not have something of the magic which Eleutheriades is seeking.
Mineralia beckons the audience into this world of wonder and nostalgia, whilst quietly challenging assumptions about contemporary ceramic practice.
Rachael Helmore
Curator
