Ceramic Expressions (1st Edition) 2017

Participating Artist:
Agnes Lim, Eddie Yee, Hazel Ng, Hiroko Mita, Tan Gek Lin
Guest artist, Master potter Dr Iskandar Jalil

7 September - 23 September 2017 (Japan Creative Centre)
26 September - 5 October 2017 (Mulan Gallery)

Mulan Gallery, in collaboration with Japan Creative Centre (JCC) of Singapore proudly presents Ceramic Expressions, the first edition of an annual group exhibition series showcasing works by Singapore-based ceramicists. This exhibition will feature new works by Agnes Lim, Eddie Yee, Hazel Ng, Hiroko Mita and Tan Gek Lin. In addition, our guest artist, master potter Dr Iskandar Jalil will also be showcasing a few of his recent works.

From Eddie Yee’s works inspired by the Sahara Desert, Hiroko Mita’s homage to the land and sky, Hazel Ng’s whimsical Japanese knots and childhood snack-inspired pieces, to Tan Gek Lin’s figurines swaying to music and Agnes Lim’s intricate porcelain works infused with blue, these works feature explorations in new folds, styles and techniques for each of these ceramicists, all of whom are either long-time apprentices or comrades-in-clay of master potter and guest artist, Dr Iskandar Jalil. The latter has said that the “Way of the Pot” is typically not arrived at alone. Exchanges and partnerships can often be excellent ways to spur a potter’s growth and learning.

At first glance, a work might suggest where the earth meets the sky, an interplay at once contiguous and remote – the contrasting azure blues and rustic oranges offering intimations of the forging fire, but also the varied expansiveness of the sky and the sea, the textures and terrain in a vessel that are inextricably linked to the energy of the earth from which it is formed. In the mind’s eye, the horizon: a merging and meeting of the elements and of wills as materials are shaped into being, codetermining the form as they relay their own will to the potter’s hand, grasping the world in a grain of sand – the constant tug and contrast between friction and slip, texture and smoothness, rusticity and elegance, craft and alchemy, at once willing and non-willing, on the path towards being one with the life force, with nature.

Central to the works in this exhibition is the theme of simplicity. Shibusa: the simple vessel with a quiet, unassuming beauty containing unexpected textures, designs and structures that, over time, rewards the viewer with a rich, hitherto unseen complexity. Allied with this aesthetic is the philosophy of wabi-sabi, which accepts that imperfections and impermanence are an essential part of life and beauty. These works, far from being static, embody tsuchi-aji (flavour of clay), or an earthiness and character that develop and deepen over the years.