Sabbia Gallery is pleased to present this beautiful solo exhibition of ceramics by new talent Alexandra Standen, the 2011 winner of the Sabbia Gallery Solo Exhibition Prize for National Art School Post Graduates in Ceramics. Her achievements have continued, most recently being awarded the prestigious 2012 Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramic Award at the Shepparton Art Museum in the Emerging Australian category. As part of the award Alexandra held a solo exhibition at the gallery in late 2012 with a major work being acquired for their collection.
I make ceramic objects that are natural, structural and contained, objects that explore the possibilities of arrangement through a collection of related forms and examine ideas of ritual, ordinariness, contemplation and environment. Central to this process is identifying and capturing an essence of life in objects. The way that they too can draw breath, hold volume and space, speak of energy and emotion.
I am addressing the most primordial, ancient history surrounding the material, clay, and the vessel, and extending the language to objects of containment and inner space from my own experience and memory. The importance of the materiality in my making process has allowed me to make decisions about the form, colour and texture of a piece as I make very conscious decisions to leave a human imprint on a material so natural and archaic.
Each work is fragile and reflects the surroundings that I am most familiar with, having lived both in a rural and city environment. How we come to exist within environments and spaces and our relationship to them is an important element, as the installation and arrangement of the vessels allows for this interaction to happen.
Alexandra Standen , 2013
