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| Vessel-Essense: Anita Rocamora; Dr. Douglas Wright Education Gallery September 11 to January 6,2006 |
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| Born in Beziers, France, Anita Rocamora studied with some of Canada’s greatest ceramicists: Jack Sures, Marylyn Levine, Walter Ostrom, Penny Smith. The work Rocamora created for this exhibition is a continuation of her study of organic vessel forms in nature, such as seeds, pods, fruits and gourds, as well as the various and ingenious ways organic things are put together, what she calls the exquisite engineering of nature. In Vessel-Essence, she has increased the usual scale of her work, however, the larger forms remain intimate, animated and whimsical. The new work is also less literal than her previous pieces, less a re-creation of something that |
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already exists. These forms reference organic shapes and stay true to the principles of purposeful balance that have come to characterize Rocamora’s work, but are moving into a more abstract expression. Some of the aspects that she is exploring in these new pieces are the illusion of movement, the odd, asymmetrical balance, the textured surfaces, the overall sense of strength. For Rocamora, her themes and material are always intimately linked. She has stated that she looks at nature for inspiration and to learn how to create objects that “make sense” visually and physically. Nothing is superfluous in nature; form, function and beauty flow from one another. The focus of her work is an exploration of this principle. Clay, more than any other material, provides the perfect vehicle for Rocamora to create such explorations. And for many years her primary material has been porcelain. She enjoys working with clay because of its tactile qualities, its endless transformations, because it contains traces of everything that existed, from single-cell organisms to mountains. There is also a long acquaintance of clay with human hands. In working with clay she connects with history, with continuity. And in doing so creates works that stimulate in the viewer feelings of joy, awareness, whimsy, and most importantly, a sense of connection to the earth. Art is contemplation. It is the pleasure of a mind which searches into nature and which there divines the spirit of which Nature herself is animated. ~ August Rodin |
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