Details
Black clay
H. 4.5 x w. 10.5 x d. 10 cm
About the Maker
"The central ideology that is embodied in my work comes from answering an unanswerable question. How to live?"
"The work I make is because I must and if I must this is what I choose to do. There is no way around this, we are born and thus must answer this question with the action of our lives. I have found my way to the world of ceramics through working with and learning from Katherine Glenday. Katherine kindly brought me into her studio and life in 2013. I am still here today, learning and absorbing ceramics in all its variability and contrast; bringing to the fore subtleties and movements of light."
"The techniques I have gained through my time in Katherine’s studio, alongside my own discoveries, have led me to glaze experimentations and various shapes – some of which you see in this show. I strive through life and work to bring the mind to joy and wisdom, hoping to inspire the same emotions that one might have had whilst lost in a landscape. Using form and technique I work to unite my thinking with my craft. "
Alistair Blair graduated with a BSc in Ocean and Atmospheric Science from the University of Cape Town in 2013 and an Honours in Physical Oceanography (Cum Laude) in 2014. From 2014 onwards, Alistair apprenticed with ceramicist Katherine Glenday. Atypically during this time Alistair worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) doing oceanographic research in the Atlantic Ocean and working as a Director of Photography in the fashion industry. Alistair’s more notable accomplishments have been recognition as a new maker by Ceramic Review (2016), displaying at 100% design for 100% clay with 20 of South Africa's leading ceramicists and winning the Ceramics South Africa (CSA) - Western Cape 2020 Regional Exhibition New Signature Award of Merit. He has exhibited previously in a group show at Thrown Contemporary in London, titled From This Land (2019) followed by a group show at Rust-en-Vrede Gallery in 2020 for the CSA Western Cape Regional Exhibition. Currently Alistair has work displayed in the exhibition titled Home Is Where the Art Is (2020) at the Zeitz MOCAA. More recently he has exhibited at Kim Sacks Gallery (2020) in a show titled Outwith with Maia Lehr-Sacks and at Ebony Curated (2020) in the show Re Imagining Clay.