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.
