ALCHEMICAL VESSEL SERIES

Opening tonight!  TransFormal, 7-9pm at Latcham Gallery

Earlier this week we installed Alchemical Vessel Series (2008-2012) for a group exhibition in Stouffville, Ontario.  TransFormal consists of four Japanese Canadian Artists including Nobuo Kubota, Akira Yoshikawa, Louise Noguchi, and (myself) Naomi Yasui whose work touches on ideas around transformation.

The Alchemical Vessel Series is a collection of 59 porcelain vessels, where each vessel represents one of the 59 elements from alchemist Torbern Bergman’s table of the elements, published in his 1775 Dissertation of Effective Affinities.  

This piece speaks to the notion of transformation both literally, in its direct historical references (the invention of European porcelain by German alchemist Johann Friedrich Böttger), and indirectly in terms of the ceramic practice.  The nature of ceramic is a transformative experience; the process of moving a raw material through pyrotechnology is a phenomenon that can be described as otherworldly.  Myth and practice around pyrotechnology involves a certain level of sacrifice and dedication to the material; one has to be open to the unknown, to material discovery and to experience.  In most archeological concepts in metallurgy and ceramics, the effects of fire are central, and the process of transmutation or transformation is a combination of technical practices and spiritual concerns.

This exhibition runs through to July 28th.