JWM Magazine - Fall 2016

41 JWMARRIOTT.COM
“I like the surprise of not knowing exactly how
the object that you put in the kiln will look when
it comes out.”
FROM FUNCTIONAL TO FINE ART
Sullivan says that while she wants to create beautiful
pieces, she also wants those pieces to be functional.

Ceramicists such as Thai-born, Melbourne-raised artist Vipoo Srivilasa have a different focus: creating fine arts pieces that are more likely to turn up in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Saatchi Gallery in London and the Yingge Ceramics Museum in Taiwan than on a kitchen table. Srivilasa creates ceramics that a friend calls “a playful blend of historical figurative and decorative art practices, with a healthy dose of contemporary culture,” and his recent work has been concerned with his experience living between his homes of Australia and Thailand. “I think living in two places has provided me with a unique view of the world,” he says. “I can see the world from both sides, East and West. Both cultures melt into me, helping me to create unique works of art.”

WHEN CERAMICS MET SOCIAL MEDIA

Srivilasa’s global style is bolstered by a modern world made smaller with the rise of social media. At a time when boutiques are turning into mini-museums for contemporary sculpture, social networks such as Instagram and You Tube are helping to unify the global ceramics community and forge strong connections between artists and consumers. Danish store Stilleben is a showcase for work by Copenhagen’s Studio Arhoj and Karin Blach Nielsen; Mociun in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, peddles wares by Canadian ceramicist Lindsay Hampton, Swedish ceramicist Eleonor Bostrom and L.A.-based artist Pauline Wolstencroft;

and General Store in Venice, California, features handcrafted pieces by California’s own Atelier Dion and A Question of Eagles. The ability to see each other’s work and share new decorating and firing processes is helping to evolve artists’ crafts in ways previously unimaginable.

BEAUTIFUL MISTAKES
One artist inspired by this exchange of ideas is
L.A.-based artist Rami Kim, whose whimsical work is
ONES TO WATCH
As design director at bohemian temple Anthropologie, Bernice Kelly has her finger
on the pulse of hip homewares. Her favorite emerging ceramicists on the scene?
“The hand-built shapes at Facture Goods;make utile kitchen objects beautiful.
Bridget Bodenham marries studio clay and contemporary style in a very appealing
way. Giselle Hicks;runs the gamut from ceramics as art to the functional and
everyday. And Ben Fiess;utilizes the art of glaze with gorgeous color combinations.”
sold at boutiques including Steven Alan and Clare V.

“I like seeing my favorite artists’ daily posts on the
internet; it’s nice to connect with makers and share
good information and inspire each other,” she says,
though she confesses she is most inspired by working
on her own pieces. “One piece leads to another, and
one mistake leads to another.” Kim especially admires
the messiness and unpredictability of Picasso’s
ceramics. “It was a new medium for him, and he was
searching and learning and made some awesome
works that are not predictable,” she says. “As with his
work, I want my work to not always be the same.”
And indeed, it is this kind of personal, often messy
aspect of ceramics that lures people into its beautiful
web. Anthropologie’s Bernice Kelly says, “Our daily
lives are so hectic that people are looking for moments
of respite and connection. The simplicity and hand-
touched nature of ceramics bring meaning to our
everyday experiences.” [