30,000 +

This exhibition brings together seven artists working in ceramics in widely divergent ways. Linda Sormin and Paul Mathieu are Emily Carr Institute faculty and have well-established practices. Julie York, Judy Chartrand, Carlo Sammarco, Ying-Yueh Chuang and Jeremy Hatch are graduates of Emily Carr who have developed significant practices and have exhibited across Canada and the US.

30,000 + refers to the number of years that humans have been making objects with clay. In the face of such a long history these contemporary artists have developed a diversity of subjects and a wide range of approaches to working with ceramics.

Ying-Yueh Chuang produces whimsical clusters of objects derived from plant and flower forms while Linda Sormin’s complex web-like constructions play off notions of strength and fragility and Jeremy Hatch’s sculptures rely on the delicate nature of porcelain to comment on time and memory. Carlo Sammarco creates elegant and refined abstract works while Julie York uses industrial porcelain forms in her multi-media constructions to comment on perception and distortion. Paul Mathieu draws from art history and pop culture to create ceramic vessels and salt and pepper pot depictions of disasters and Judy Chartrand’s work examines commercial packaging to critique depictions of First Nations people.

These artists create complex and engaging autonomous works. Their practices acknowledge the history and tradition of ceramics and question pre-conceived notions about the medium of clay itself.