Sabbia Gallery is pleased to present this solo exhibition by ceramic artists Simone Fraser.
ICONOPLASTIC – Icons and Idiosyncrasies
The title of this exhibition is a play on words – some of the forms are a reference to the use of the vessel in ritual practice. It is also a reference to the plastic medium itself and its place in the visual arts.
I have always seen the forms I make as icons – symbols or metaphors for my story. The vessel ¬is not just a timeline, it is a conduit – because it is familiar to everyone – it opens up an immediate conversation with the viewer who can then focus on the content and ideas within it.
Some of the story in this show involves a reference to ritual function that vessels are used for in formal ceremony. My vessels symbolise an alternative message to the, authoritarian, masculine ritual vessels associated with some religious practise. They suggest a different dialogue, one that embraces beauty and the feminine. Icons freed from constraints of ritual and patriarchy – balanced – equilibrium.
The collision of references in my work has always reflected the archaeological, the environmental and the contemporary. I try and meld these together to produce a personal statement in clay. This exhibition is typical. It still seems to me the vessel form is uniquely placed to capture the spirit of the past with the concerns of the present.
Simone Fraser, 2018
