Vol. 17 No. 1
Spring / Summer 2022
It’s been over two years of a global pandemic, and during that time, we’ve experienced huge paradigm shifts in how we relate to each other, our spaces and the objects that surround us. We’re still trying to figure out how our worlds have rearranged as we reconsider how we spend our time, money and energy.
So, what is the role of craft in a world made strange?
In his essay “The Spectacle of the Everyday,” author and curator Glenn Adamson writes “Craft, then, is a form of rhetoric, a way of laying claim to credibility.” In this issue of Studio, we examine the relationship between craft and the familiar: How can moving away from the familiar invite creative responses to changing conditions? And conversely, how does returning to what we find familiar provide an antidote to the anxieties of change?
Moving our lives online has had many reverberations, for better and worse. It’s hard to teach craft virtually, although some makers have been able to leverage their online presence for professional and financial advancement. For this issue, I spoke with Adamson about many things to do with craft, including the tensions between materials and new technologies and our roles in directing attention.
Our cover and featured In Focus artist, Pauline Loctin, works with one of the most everyday of materials, paper: folding, cutting, and constructing it into evocative and sculptural shapes. Loctin’s versatility with paper is demonstrated in the range of her work from dance and fashion costumes to public installations and art exhibitions.
The environmental interventions of artist Alyssa Alikpala provoke a new consideration of everyday spaces and issue an irresistible invitation to both re-examine and re-engage with one’s surroundings. And metalsmith Brigitte Clavette is this year’s recipient of the Saidye Bronfman Award — her sculptural work explores everyday rituals and objects with a thoughtful translational approach. Clavette is featured alongside sculptor David Ruben Piqtoukun, who received a 2022 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts. And water is rendered uncanny as Linda Zhang and Biko Mandela Gray describe a clay project commissioned for the Erie Canal.
For Inquiries, we spoke with Bill Kime, Senior Specialist, Ceramics, Glass and Silver at Waddington’s Auctioneers and Appraisers, who described his work appraising and preparing collections for sale. This issue’s Portfolio section presents Cal Lane’s lace-like metalwork that achieves a delicate strength; Ekow Nimako’s fantastical Lego sculptures of places and people that celebrate Black futures; and Tyler Rock’s curiosity-provoking glass sculptures. And Mihku Paul’s poems provide lingering moments of contemplation of our relationships with nature and each other.
Craft can both unsettle and provide comfort. An intimacy with crafted objects (and their constitutive materials and processes) provides a tangible way of finding and creating meaning in a constantly transforming world.
Nehal El-Hadi Editor-In-Chief
CONTENTS:
Editor’s Note
FOCAL POINT Pauline Loctin Amanda Shore explores the intricate and expansive sculptures of the Montréal-based paper engineer. read article
THE UNCANNY NATURE OF WATER
Using water from Lake Erie, Linda Zhang & Biko Mandela Gray describe how our overfamiliarity with water distracts us from its de-familiarizing actions.
PROVOCATIONS POIESIS
Alyssa Alikpala’s evocative descriptions of her approach to collaborating with her surroundings. read article
SAIDYE BRONFMAN AWARD WINNER: BRIGITTE CLAVETTE
Maegen Black and Ann Manuel describe how the metalsmith’s body of work extends beyond her craft and into the community.
AWARD PROFILE David Ruben Piqtoukun
The sculptor received a 2022 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts.
A CAPTURED EXPERIENCE
Nehal El-Hadi interviews Glenn Adamson about the familiar in craft. read excerpt
WATER, CLAY AND STONE
The work of Winnipeg-based KC Adams exists between the material and the virtual, writes Lera Kotsyuba.
SONNET #1: NEXUS
Poetry by Mihku Paul, a First Nations poet, visual artist, storyteller and activist.
A DISQUIETING ELEGANCE: THE CERAMICS OF EDDY FIRMIN
Curator Sequoia Miller writes about beautiful contentions with brutality in the artist’s ceramic works.
PORTFOLIO Cal Lane (Halifax, N.S.), Ekow Nimako (Toronto, Ont.), Tyler Rock (Black Diamond, Alta.)
INQUIRIES BILL KIME
The decorative arts specialist at Waddington’s Auctioneers & Appraisers reveals his unusual career path. read interview
