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| Sunday, 18 April 2004 |
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Giving life to clay by Farah Macan Markar
Pottery is the art of transforming a clay ball into an object. Giving solidity to an object which was just a vision or a part of one's imagination. Pottery to a potter is a creative piece of work, as painting is to a painter, so is sculpture to a sculptor. It is a Potter's way of expressing himself through his ideas; Pottery and Ceramic Pottery is his form of art. This is what Monty Senerath Colombage and Gayan Sathyajith Karunaratne have to say about their art, which they presented at the VAFA Gallery Ceramic Show held from the 26th-31st March. The pots come in different shapes and sizes, from simple clay ones, to painted ceramic works, wee vases to big globe shaped objects.
There are two types of Ceramic Pottery. Functional Pottery which is more for practical use and Studio Pottery which has an aesthetic value, and is based on a concept. "In Studio Pottery we work on a spiritual idea" says Monty "A Functional Potter on the other hand is more of a Ceramic Designer than a Potter. He follows three rules in his work, which is User, Manufacturer and Seller. He has to think about these three aspects when coming up with his design".
As a result of the Industrial Revolution however, with mass scale machine made productions coming in small trade craftsmen were rejected by society. As a result new roles emerged in these craftsmen such as designer, manufacturer and seller who then began creating low value industrial products. This was when British Potter Bernard Leech and Japanese Potter Soji Hamada revolutionised that "craft was art". They dug out the dying arts, studied the spirit of it and taught it to the younger generation. "Thus Studio Pottery re-emerged in an whole new way, was more recognized and given a new trend. The revolution went worldwide to countries such as India, Korea and China where roots of pottery were pulled up and Pottery was finally given a place as a subject of higher studies in Universities" says Gayan.
I see day-to-day things in a further dimension and try and bring this out in my work". In the end, whatever their differences, these two artists have a unique love in common, which is bringing to life little beings from pieces of clay. Gayan Sathyajith Karunarathne completed the BFA degree from the University of Kelaniya in 1998. After graduation he followed a course in Ceramic Industry at the Ceramic Centre Dediyawala in 1999/2000. He also followed a Group Training Course in Ceramic Kiln and Firing Technology in Japan during 2000/2001. Returning to Sri Lanka Gayan was employed as a Ceramic Instructor at the Department of Industries, Small Industries and Textile Industries until 2002. At present he is working for VAFA as a Lecturer in the Department of Ceramic and Pottery. He is also a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Architecture, University of Moratuwa. Monty Senerath Colombage obtained the BFA degree from the University of Kelaniya in 1980. After graduation he joined the Pegasus Reef Hotel, Sri Lanka, as a designer and artist. In 1986 he joined the Leather Corporation as a designer for a brief period. The same year he was invited to work as the Art Director by the management of the Hotel Sofitel in Doha. Spending 8 years abroad he returned to Sri Lanka in 1994 and joined the faculty of VAFA in 1996. At present, he is the head of the Department of Ceramics and Pottery and is also the Deputy Director of VAFA. |
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The latter most is a shape Monty is still intrigued by in the way it
intervenes in people's lives. Gayan on the other hand is more inspired by
context and says his work could have different interpretations depending
on how it is seen by each person.
During the colonial period pottery was not recognized in Sri Lanka,
where as pre 1815 there was a good level of pottery and wood carvings. In
other countries such as Japan, Korea and China, Asian pottery made a name
for itself.
While pottery for Gayan is like "Meditation", for Monty it is
a form of "Sculpture". "I generally work on a theme based
on shapes I have seen or imagined and put sculpture into pottery"
says Monty. Gayan on the other hand who gets his inspirations from context
says "I don't imitate things I see.
