The Many Faces of Clay

05.12.2018 – 09.02.2019

“The Many Faces of Clay”

The four galleries of Kondas Centre will be filled with ceramics for the next two months. The six artists participating in the exhibition – Urmas Bereczki, Pille Kaleviste, Karin Kalman, Lauri Kilusk, Urmas Puhkan and Kärt Seppel have used different techniques and materials to give clay its unique face.

The abstract forms by Urmas Bereczki have been completed in the last five years of high-temperature clay, fired partly in an electric kiln and partly in a wood-heated kiln. His works made of black clay are as if human figures for their organic forms and contours imitating the style of ancient civilisations. The dark figures standing side by side in front of a light background leave empty spaces that creates new abstract figures.

The installation by Pille Kaleviste is made up of about twenty cow tongue-shaped porcelain forms, charcoal and thread. The artist has used various techniques: moulding and cell, electric, smoke and wood firing techniques.

Karin Kalman presents a collage of works fired in different wood kilns. The emphasis is on the unglazed clay surfaces, the work of the fire, and the combined use of different clays, where white and airy porcelain has been added for contrast (made in wood, electric or gas kilns).

Lauri Kilusk is committed to 3D printing of clay. Some techniques are simple, others require more dedication and extend to parametric design and programming.

The installation by Urmas Puhkan emerges from the tensions in society, the nervous vibration that is impossible to ignore. He uses the 3D pencil to create a clay environment, from which the fragile power lines of everyday relations emerge. Over time, the burnt and unburnt clay start to break and change, and the public can follow the process.

Kärt Seppel presents large-scale handmade ceramic forms. Made of high-temperature clay and coarse chamotte (grog) and covered with clay glazing, the large and heavy works express a controversial idea of flying, of the freedom of moving in the air, with eyes bound by getting lost, and wings cut by fear of falling.

The exhibition is supported by Estonian Cultural Endowment.