Earth, Glaze & Fire exhibit highlights the ceramics work of KPU fine arts students

Three Kwantlen Polytechnic University fine arts students have launched a ceramics exhibit to display their artistic growth.

Earth, Glaze & Fire includes pieces from Jennifer Russell, Astrid Chow, and Joy Chen, who each attended residencies where they could experiment with clay and try different firing techniques such as atmospheric, pit, and shuttle firing.

Upon completing their residencies, the students wanted to showcase their work and growth in their practice, Russell says, which is what Earth, Glaze & Fire aims to do by allowing the university community to see their creations inside the Spruce Ceramic Gallery at KPU’s Surrey campus until Dec. 5.

The exhibit also highlights the experience students get from attending residencies, which includes exploring new techniques and accessing different materials.

In May, Russell spent her time at Medalta’s Shaw International Centre for Contemporary Ceramics in Medicine Hat, Alta. 

She says she learned more than she expected and found it interesting to meet other artists with different focuses in ceramics.

“I had an amazing experience there,” Russell says. “The thing I like about the residency is that you have a chance to focus on something of your interest in an environment where you can get feedback from not just a technician or one artist.”

The art Russell worked on was a large-scale sculpture depicting Mother Nature on a moss covering, focusing on the theme of environmental awareness.

“Even through ceramics, we do have to think about our use of materials and how it does impact the environment,” Russell says. “But I also wanted to then experiment with growing moss on this piece and other natural materials and work towards a larger exhibition that focuses on this theme [of] our impact on the planet.”

There are other displayed pieces created while experimenting with salt firing that were not targeted towards this theme, Russell says. 

Chow and Chen attended a two-week residency together at Burnaby’s Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in June. 

“The experience in Shadbolt was super fun,” Chen says. “I think the most interesting part for me was there were no guidelines or deadlines for you, so you could do whatever you want there.”

At the residency, students shared the studio together and could come in any time during the week, Chen adds. 

Chen’s work includes her ideal set for a dining table, she says, adding that most of the things are functional and she uses them in her daily life.

“To be honest, the exhibition, for me, was a surprise,” Chen says. “I didn’t know we had to do the exhibition, so most of the work that is in there for the show I already brought home and used.”

Chen also says she finds artistic inspiration in the things around her that evoke good feelings.

“When I see something that is interesting outside, maybe just a tree, an animal, or something, I will take a picture,” Chen says. “I may use their colour or their shape and … want to recreate it with clay.” 

Earth, Glaze & Fire shows the different approaches each of the students took to make their craft, Russell says, adding she would like to encourage students to look for residency opportunities and take advantage of them. 

“There isn’t a correct way to do a residency,” she says. “It’s not about going [into] production mode. It’s about learning and experimentation. The other thing I would want people to take away is that the amount of growth and advancement in my craft that I experienced in one month was really shocking to me.”