For the past 19 years, The Clay Studio has been fortunate to have artists from over 40 countries come to Philadelphia to live and work. Looking Back includes works made by these artists during their stay at The Studio. Founded in 1991, the Studio's Guest Artist in Residence Program is recognized internationally as one of the best programs of its kind, and annually brings six artists to The Clay Studio for two-month residencies. The program provides participants an apartment located directly across the street from the Studio, allowing them easy 24/7 access to a studio space on the third floor of the Old City facility. The Guest Artist studio was purposely located in the this very public space, between two classrooms of the Studio’s School, to allow Clay Studio students the opportunity to witness first hand each Guest Artist’s creative process, and to encourage social interaction and exchange. The program also provides a material and firing stipend, as well as a monthly living stipend. The residency program is purposefully unstructured, allowing participants the freedom to define the projects that are of most value to them during their stay. In return, each Guest Artist presents a lecture to The Clay Studio community and gifts one work created during their residency (selected by The Studio’s Artistic Director) for the Studio’s permanent collection. Additional works are also selected for inclusion in Made at The Clay Studio, an annual exhibition featuring the work of the six participants in a given year.
Looking Back: Work from Past Guest Residencies, 1994-2009 includes the work of 12 artists from 10 countries. Beginning with the figurative works of Czeslaw Podlesny (Poland 1994), and ending with the abstract sculptures of Malene Pedersen (Denmark 2009), Looking Back includes an incredibly diverse body of work and serves as a marker in the evolution of clay as a material used for creative expression. The works on view reinforce the inherent commonalities of varied cultures, and yet highlights the inherent differences. In some pieces, the formal qualities of the work lend clues to the possible ethnicity of the maker, while other works are truly universal. Some are bound by centuries old traditions passed from one generation to the next, as in the work of Mexican artist Carlomagno Martinez (Mexico 1999), whose figurative sculptures are rooted in day of the dead tradition, religious beliefs and functional need. Yet, most artists working today are not bound by traditional objects defined by makers of previous generations, and have pure freedom to create. Even in these instances, as in the work of Catrin Howell (Wales 2007), the finished product may still be rooted in the maker’s cultural traditions; in Howell’s case, her inspiration comes from Welsh fairy tales and folklore. All of the works included in the exhibition are for sale, providing a rare opportunity to acquire a piece from the past by makers of import. Participating artists include: Czeslaw Podlesny (Poland 1994), Takumi Sado (Japan 1996), Carlomagno Martinez (Mexico 1999), Bai Ming (China 2001), David Ray (Australia 2004), Takeshi Yasuda (United Kingdom 2003), Irianna Kanellopoulou (Australia 2005), Mia Fernandes (England 2005), Eva Avidar (Israel 2006), Catrin Howell (Wales 2007), Sophie Milne (Australia 2007), Fiona Thompson (Scotland 2007), and Malene Pedersen (Denmark 2009).
