Longquan Wangou Taoxichuan International Studio
龙泉望瓯·陶溪川国际工作室
I am thrilled to announce that I will be in China next year for a Research Residency at the Ceramics University of Jingdezhen Longquan Research Institute.
From January 15 – April 15, 2025
NEWS
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To come: Ceramics Research residency
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ARTIST RESIDENCY_ @skullduggerygallery
July 2024
Skullduggery Residency Lunenburg and @skullduggerygallery in Garden Lots are an important part of my family’s life. This summer I worked on production of pieces for the upcoming Studio Sale in December 2024, at Studio de céramique Alexandra, Montréal.
Feeling very privileged to have had, once again, a working-vacation by the see, and in the very best company @skullduggerygallery.
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Artist Talk UAL: Central Saint-Martins, London
March, 2024
In July 2023, I participated in the workshop A Tribute: The Pots and Passion of Walter Ostrom, in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The keynote speaker for this two-week event was Professor Paul Greenhalgh, author of Ceramic, Art and Civilization (Bloomsbury, 2021), whose professional background includes roles as historian, writer, curator and manager of arts organizations in the UK, USA and Canada. During this meeting, professor Greenhalgh and I began to discuss a possible collaboration around the idea of bringing my work to the UK. My trip to London in March 2024 therefore had a dual mission:
Firstly, visits:- Visit to the Zaha Hadid Foundation, of which Greenhalgh is director. This foundation supports international architecture and contemporary art initiatives.
- Visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which includes a world-class collection of historic ceramics, as well as a residency program for ceramic artists.
- Private tour of Professor Greenhalgh’s vast and unique personal collection of historic ceramics.
Secondly, presentation of my work, Artist Talk, at UAL: Central Saint-Martins university:
Thanks to the invitation of Professor Duncan Hooson I presented my work to the Ceramic Department of Central Saint-Martins university (UAL:CSM), where I had the opportunity to discuss my artistic research and professional practice in ceramics.My London expressed great interest my work inspired by our Canadian forest landscapes, to their students, as well as to a wider British public. My current body of work, Anthropocene II: Pyrocene, is inspired by Canadian forestry and reforestation practices, as well as our troubled relationship with our forests as a natural resource.
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EXHIBIT ANTHROPOCÈNE 1 ____
Exhibition :
ANTHROPOCÈNE 1
Veronika Horlik
Septembre 09 – 30, 2023
Galerie YL-S
25 Rue Beausoleil,
St-Gabriel, QC J0K 2N0Press Release
WARNING, EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SINGLE-WIDTH SLOW STEEP WINDING UNMAINTAINED ROAD AHEAD are just some of the warnings engraved in clay by ceramic artist Veronika Horlik to let us know that the path that we are on is not without risk. In Anthropocene 1, this ceramist, with over 25 years’ experience in the field, has decided to involve the viewer in her new body of work, tackling themes that are dear to her: deforestation and the Canadian natural landscape. The works demonstrate a great mastery of their medium and, in the current context of the great fires devastating our planet, are deeply moving.
As soon as you enter the gallery, you have the impression of arriving after a catastrophe, as you find yourself in front of a pile of burnt logs – in the artist’s hands, clay has become charred wood.
On the wall, facing these smoking remains, a series of installations presented as stations invite us to follow narrative threads that addresses causes and consequences of climate change. The presence of the painted chevron motif, an industrial incursion into nature, reminds us in the manner of a road sign that a deviation of path must be made with regard to our future.
This exhibition oscillates between playfulness and drama, in an aesthetic imbued with the imagination of childhood – colored mirrors, tic-tac-to, animals, shimmering colours -. Here, the glazes, from deep black to luminous grey, resemble “motor oil dripping on little rabbits”, as Horlik would say.
The Anthropocene marks the beginning of the large-scale impact of human activity on the biosphere, and Veronika Horlik – through these ceramic works on a human scale – delivers a look that balances beauty and destruction on the current state of our forests. She knows this forest well, having worked in reforestation camps in northern Quebec, Ontario and Alberta.
This is the most powerful and accomplished of the artist’s exhibitions, with which she begins a multi-part series on the forest in the face of climate change.
For Ceramics enthusiasts, this exhibition is a tour de force, with its diversity of techniques, formats and spectacularly nuanced glazes.
Text by Julie Hétu
Image : Rémanents / Slash, detail.
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A Tribute: The Pots and Passion of Walter Ostrom: a workshop-event
July 03 – July 14, 2023
Participation as presenter the workshop-event A Tribute : The Pots and Passion of Walter Ostrom, à Lunenburg, en Nouvelle-Écosse.
Walter Ostrom: Professor emeritus NSCAD Univertity (USA / Canada).
Douglas Bamford: Ceramic Arts Professional, Founding member of the Board of governance of the LSA (NS,Canada).
Paul Greenhalgh: Historian, writer, curator, and manager in the visual arts (England, UK).
Jean-Pierre Larocque: Ceramic Arts Professional and Educator (Québec, Canada).
Joan Bruneau: Professional Ceramic Potter (NS, Canada).
Veronika Horlik: JAC Chair of Visual Arts, Education Faculty McGill U. (Arts Education), Managing founder Studio de céramique Alexandra
Jordan McDonald: Professional Ceramic Artist (USA)
Mat Karas : Assistant pProfessor of Ceramics, Concordia U. (Québec, Canada).
Tim Worthington: Professional Ceramic Artist (NS, Canada)I am at once humbled and honored to be invited to be a part of such a high-caliber line-up of professional, and international, Craft professionals (from Canada, USA, and England). This 2-week workshop will consist of 9 presenters (myself included), and welcome registered participants accepted into this workshop via a juried process.
This workshop-event, acting as a mini symposium on the current state of Ceramics arts, is multifaceted in terms of the professional development opportunities it offers; it will allow me to learn from other artists, with ceramic approaches ranging from functional production, to sculptural work, to installation practices, and most pertinently, critical discourses among high-achieving individuals who actively contribute to influential discourses on current Craft Practices in Canada and abroad.
In my ceramics process I draw on my worldview of human interactions with Nature through objects. My personal expertise and interest in surface texture on ceramic objects is addressed primarily through a variety of carving techniques. This is what I will contribute
The Lunenburg School of the Arts (LSA) offers workshops led by professional art educators and working artists. Their small and intimate class sizes allow students to work closely with instructors and each other, fostering self-expression in a supportive atmosphere. LSA is located in the heart of Lunenburg, a UNESCO World Heritage site, a hub for arts and music from around the world.
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FIRE SEASON BOOK II ____
August 2022
Fire Season Book II
Edited by Amory Abbott and Liz Toohey-Weise, 2022
fireseason.org“The Fire Season project brings together a variety of voices in a collective sens-making about wildfires”.
Thank you to the editors for including my work
BURN
2009
Ceramic, oil on wood panel, custom cement blocks, hardware.The image of calcined organic material stems from forest landscapes called “Burns”, land that has been doubly devastated: cut land that then is burned by forest fire. In these vast charred landscapes, littered with “slash” debris, industrial incursions meet the forces and beauty of nature.
My ceramic sculpture work stems from my continued interest in vast Canadian reforestation landscapes, silvicultural sites where mechanical incursions mingle with the strength and beauty of nature, and a constant air of devastation mingles with the possibility of magnificent regeneration. Vibrantly coloured, and generously textured, my sculptures and installations invite us to consider and re-evaluate our relationship with our Canadian forests and Natural environments.
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ARTIST RESIDENCY____@skullduggerygallery
July 2022
Skullduggery Residency
Some of my bowls donation to the Lunenburg School of Art Empty Bowls fundraiser.Lunenburg and @skullduggerygallery are an important part of my family’s life.
Feeling very privileged to have had, once again, a working-vacation by the see, and in the very best company.
@skullduggerygallery
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FOR THE LOVE OF SANDRA ALFODY ____
October 2021
Veronika Horlik – FONDANT : A platter for Sandra For the Love of Sandra Alfoldy,
Anna Leonowens Gallery
Halifax, NS.
October 12-21, 2021This exhibition celebrates the vibrant life and work of preeminent Canadian Craft Historian Dr. Sandra Alfoldy. Sandra’s research pioneered the discourse around Canadian studio craft, her curatorial work presented craft in a new and critical light, and her teaching inspired a committed passion for craft in a generation of students. For the Love of Sandra Alfoldy is a project that gathers craft, artwork, and stories from Sandra’s friends (her colleagues, collaborators, and students) in order to celebrate Sandra’s life, her work, and her extraordinary impact on her communities.
Fondant icing is often brightly coloured, adding a silky mat sophistication to cakes and pastries. It does not have the texture of most icings; rolled fondant is akin to stiff clay. It’s utility, however, extends well beyond cosmetics: Draped over cake layers during the decorating process it forms a protective capsule preserving the freshness of the interior cake for several days depending on how elaborate the cake is.
If the field of Canadian Craft could be thought of as an intricately constructed cake, Sandra Alfoldy would be its Fondant: containing, enveloping, shaping, preserving, and all with unique style and sophistication.
Sandra Alfoldy
I met Sandra in 2005 when I was completing my theoretical Master’s thesis at McGill University, years before my MFA studies at NSCAD. I was determined to pursue theoretical research in the field of Craft and all of my inquiries led me to Dr. Sandra Alfoldy. I was very nervous to meet a keystone figure in the shaping of our contemporary Craft dialogue.
Sandra’s cheerful demeanor and nimble intelligence made me feel instantly welcome, like we were peers with common interests destined to meet. The personal and the professional melted together in our conversations throughout the years, which were always bright and inquisitive, delicious treats.
Dr. Sandra Alfoldy’s love for laughter (and lively bright colours!) draped like silk over her sophisticated and intelligent work as a Historian, Educator, and Curator. I am in debt to her my friend, mentor, and inspiration, on so many levels. She stood steadfast in supported my work, research and writing, and her vibrant fervor inspires me to this day.
