Holiday hours: Open Monday, Dec 23, 11-3
Closed Dec 24, 25 and Jan 3-6
Past Artists in Residence
Caroline Moepodi:
Artist-in-residence
July - August 2023
On a creative journey across countries and cultures Caroline visited us from Germany and focused on her individual artistic voice. Caroline explored Vancouver Island following traces of nature and wildlife and transferring these into her clay body
Brianne Siu: Aritist-in-residence January-April 2023
Brianne Siu is a Vancouver-based ceramic artist. Her work is centred on the theme of "play," Brianne uses coloured slips and clay to add a playful-like quality to her functional pieces.
Brianne started her time in Nanaimo coming from a year-long residency at Medalt's International Artist-in-residency program, where she created a new set of moulds that allowed her to repeat stacking forms and explore the multitudes of variation allowed through changing coloured handles and surface decoration.
Although only living in Nanaimo for a short period of time, Brianne felt a sense of community from the moment she started her residency.
Brianne Siu: Artist-in-residence January-April 2023
Brianne Siu is a Vancouver-based ceramic artist. Her work is centred on the theme of "play," Brianne uses coloured slips and clay to add a playful-like quality to her functional pieces.
Brianne started her time in Nanaimo coming from a year-long residency at Medalt's International Artist-in-residency program, where she created a new set of moulds that allowed her to repeat stacking forms and explore the multitudes of variation allowed through changing coloured handles and surface decoration.
Although only living in Nanaimo for a short period of time, Brianne felt a sense of community from the moment she started her residency.
Jody Lewis: Aritist-in-residence September-December 2022
Jody Lewis, the maker behind Good Wheel Ceramics, took a road less travelled to find his way as a full-time potter. It wasn’t until he began his Public Health Master’s in 2018 that he was introduced to ceramics. His obsession grew into a passion, and when the pandemic hit, his wife, Robyn, encouraged Jody to create what is now Good Wheel Ceramics. This focused time in his studio allowed Jody the space to develop three distinct lines of pottery. Each line showcases a unique aspect of the artist’s creativity, from neutral minimalism to island-inspired hues to modern elegance.
Danica Worral
Artist-in-resident January-September 2022
Danica Worrall's work is. designed to capture the nature of clay and celebrate the intimate process of hand-making objects for everyday use.
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Danica explains, “The fluid look of my surface design is achieved by pressing and marking the clay at its wettest stage while it is still on my potter’s wheel. This is when it is most responsive, allowing me to retain traces of my process.” With finger marks pressed into the bases and sharp grooves that undulate around the sides of her pots, gestural patterns are frozen in time.
The choices of glaze finish contrast their soft forms; colours and textures resemble polished rocks, simultaneously warm and cool. While the bodies of the pieces have fluidity and movement, the glaze finish solidifies that movement, capturing the gestures and turning them to stone.
Danica studied at the Kootenay School of Studio Arts in 2019. She apprenticed with Cathi Jefferson in 2021 before joining Nanaimo Ceramic Arts Studio this January, where she has tested glazes and developed her body of work. She is now focusing on launching her studio practice in Duncan alongside teaching pottery there and in Nanaimo.
check her out @danicaceramica on Instagram.
Ksenia Kil
Artist-in-residence from June 2021-December 2021
Ksenia's body of work is an attempt to understand the complex history of the marginalized identities of the Eastern Slavic Woman. She addresses this vast issue by creating and deconstructing traditional cookware. These domestic objects allow her to focus on female labour, which reflects their reality but is often ignored in modernization. Ksenia presented an exhibition of her work "Elusive Labour" mid-way through her residency and then switched to focusing on her business plan and studio setup. Ksenia now works as a multimedia artist from her studio in Montreal.
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Ksenia Kil
Artist-in-residence from June 2021-December 2021
Ksenia's body of work is an attempt to understand the complex history of the marginalized identities of the Eastern Slavic Woman. She addresses this vast issue by creating and deconstructing traditional cookware. These domestic objects allow her to focus on female labour, which reflects their reality but is often ignored in modernization. Ksenia presented an exhibition of her work "Elusive Labour" mid-way through her residency and then switched to focusing on her business plan and studio setup. Ksenia now works as a multimedia artist from her studio in Montreal.
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Lily Stringer
Lily (leanne) joined us in March of 2020 for an intensive 1 month residency in witch she made 100 ceramic boats
We Journey Together" is a display of clay boats that reflect our humanity with love and humour and honesty. Using printed words, deep textures and humanoid animals Stringer's boats are worlds full of narrative. Her work reminds us that we are all connected, and that we must see and understand each other to survive. Stringer wants you to laugh, to recognize yourself and to question your own journey. This show is full of fun and truth and the ridiculousness’s of life. Come spend some time with these stories housed in the energetic sculptures and functional serving vessels.
Brenda Reitman
Arist-in-residence from sept 2019-March 2020
Brenda says
"The process of making things by hand reminds me to slow down and savour each moment and I invite you to do the same when you encounter my work. In a season where goods are mass produced and quickly discarded, hand thrown pottery feels like a rebellion, a thoughtful alternative that creates elegant, quality pieces designed to be part of everyday life.
In 2018 it was Ann Coleman who first introduced me to clay and influenced my attitude and approach through her own. I have continued my exploration of ceramics through a residency in 2019 under the mentorship of Brownyn Arundel. Both of these teachers have an significant influence on my work and I have much gratitude for them."
Kaisa Lindfor
Artist-in-residence from Sept 202o to Jan 2020
Kaisa's main focus was her gallery show
How to Feel Full: An exploration of drawing and journaling on clay” is an artist in residence exhibition by Kaisa Lindfors. This body of work is a series of pinched ceramic vessels and sculptural armatures that solidify her private journaling practice on to three dimensional forms. Presented alongside her functional work, this show presents a hopeful, playful search for meaning through colourful interpretations of drawings and thoughts.
during her residency she was an asset to the studio and worked hard to create a business plan for herself.
In January 2021 Kaisa's work was accepted into the Circle Craft emerging artists exhibit
Teresa Dorey
Artist-in-residence from February 2021-June 2021
Through her sculptures and photographs, Dorey's work uses the corporeal to investigate empathy. Empathy is best defined by its etymological origin, the German einfühlung which translates as feeling into. Dorey's ceramics are punctuated by her perennial interest in how our emotional and physical selves.
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Teresa was awarded a Canada Council For the Arts Grant to complete this body of work.
She now works form her studio in Montreal
Aura May Carney
Aura joined us for the fall of 2019 from North Vancouver. Aura developed a new body of work that explored texture form and color.
Aura’s ceramic work explores the space that an object holds once it has been reclaimed by nature. Like a piece of treasure that has been unearthed these objects relay a sense of being created both by the human and natural world.
she was a fierce asset to our studio community and managed the space with grace. Without whom Bronwyn would not have been able to take maternity leave.
Kelsey
Kelsey Rohnagan joined us for the summer of 2019 from Calgary. Her time was spent developing a new colour palate and creating a catalogue. Her show "meet the collection" and a workshop was well attended. We are so proud of Kelsey for her leadership roll that she undertook while she was with us, she became part of the NCA family.
Kelsey recently won best emerging artist award in Make and Do's show Plenty
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Testimonial
My clay-related goals for the residency were to develop new colour-ways and fill-out my line of work. I spent the first few weeks of the residency testing slip colours and glaze colours. Having unlimited access to the studio and the kilns meant I could quickly test new colours and forms with ease. Working in a studio with many other people meant that I was able to receive feedback about the work that I was making. Taking the time to develop new forms and make what I wanted to make was invigorating. By-mid August I had chosen a handful of colounrways to continue working with, and had made a (nearly complete) collection of work.
In the final two weeks, I photographed everything, renovated my website, developed a wholesale catalogue, and created a production plan for the fall.
The Business Side of Things:
The residency also had a strong focus on developing the business side of my practice. I have been making and selling pots in Calgary, AB since 2017, with mild success. In all the making and market prep, I never took the time to establish important things for the foundation of by business - like calculating materials costs and production time. I knew these things were important, but never prioritized them. Having Bronwyn’s expertise and guidance in figuring all of this out was incredibly helpful. Once we determined how long it actually takes me to make something (much longer than I thought!), the value of my time, and the cost of materials, we realized that I was definitely not charging enough for my work. Figuring all of that out made pricing my work a simple, numbers-based activity, and was a necessary stepping stone for other business developments - like creating a wholesale catalog and setting revenue targets and other goals.
The Community:
One of the things that I enjoyed the most about my time at NCA, was the community. In addition to the residency studios, there is a large classroom studio, which is a hub for people who love clay. I’ve often said that the clay community attracts some of the best people, and that is certainly the case here. I had no ties to Nanaimo before spending the summer there and spent most of my time in the studio, but I never felt lonely. The instructors are knowledgeable, supportive, and have a critical eye; the students are curios and enthusiastic.
- Kellsey Ronaghan
Karisa Evdokimoff
"Deciding to move to the island and take part in this artist residency at Nanaimo Ceramic Arts was a really positive and transformative step for my art career. This time gave me the knowledge and experience to not only perfect my line of work, but to really see how it would function outside of the studio setting. How much would I sell pieces for, where would I sell them, how long does it take me to make them, how do I develop a business plan? Through time, all of these questions were taken into consideration and this gave me an opportunity to honour my creative process while at the same time getting serious about the business side of things.
All of the people who are a part of Nanaimo Ceramic Arts (teachers, drop-in members etc.) are mega rad and it is a welcoming, fun and positive environment to be working in. If you are looking for an opportunity to develop a line of work, have an exhibition, develop a business plan, spend time in a beautiful ocean front city and perhaps teach a few workshops along the way, all while being supported in your process and your vision, this is the place to go! You will leave with so so much more than what you thought you came here for."
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Karisa Evdokimoff
Visual Artist
www.karisaevdokimoffart.com
