Bio

I am a third generation artist, my grandmother a printmaker, my mother an art therapist and my father a designer. Although I grew up in a household of art, my work is very much my own, with very little influence from my family. I am a sculptor, an installation artist, a ceramist, a weaver, a photographer, a smith. I graduated from NSCAD University, where I studied art theory and art philosophy, as well as Art Practice and History. Upon graduation, I established a small ceramic co-op in Ghana, West Africa.

I am interested in materials and primarily work in 3D. Most of my pieces are designed in the processes; they start with a loose idea that takes shape while making the work. I think with my hands and my head, letting the work make itself and me as I make it. I often work on a trial and failure basis, seeing how far towards failure I can bring the work before pulling it into a success. There is a dynamism that can develop through the struggle for success that I aim to capture. In clay, this means many flopped pieces. In weaving, sometimes excruciating delays, infrequently pieces come off the loom, not quite done. This process allows possibilities and outcomes that would not be found in the realm of safety. My work is fun, unique, aggressive yet fragile, colourful and unapologetic. I deal with themes of use and functionality; expectations; gender issues; juxtaposition and interplay; readymade Vs one of a kind; and materiality. I enjoy playing the different textures, colours and organic shapes.

I am interested in the theories of Georg Simmel and Han-Georg Gadamer, and incorporate some of their ideologies in my work, as I see them. My work is leaning towards post post-modernist, taking values from both modernism and post-modernism and along with my generation, trying to figure out what that can mean.  I am also and artist working largely in craft materials and am very interested in the debates and divisions between art and craft.

CONTACT ME: britta at fluevog dot com