The secrets that clay can hold

Plato once wrote that empty vessels make the loudest sound, and that’s what six artists and the curator at Profiles Art Gallery hope is true.

The newest exhibit at the downtown public visual arts venue makes a point of examining the meaning behind the unfilled container in a similar way to saying that the medium is the message. While the more profound philosophies might get lost on the audience, you would still be in for a real pleasure to just look at some fantastic ceramic works. There’s even a strange mannequin figure to amuse you as well.

Vessels opens on Friday and runs until the end of January. It’s a collaborative effort of ceramic artists Candice Ring, Mindy Andrews, Suzette Knudsen and Mary Swain, as well as painter Pierre Bataillard and installation artist Gordon Perret. Andrews was recently acknowledged by the Alberta Craft Council with the 2010 Award of Achievement for an emerging craftsperson. Take one look at her tree boxes and you’ll see a lot of potential contained within her too.

“It was quite unexpected and lovely all at the same time,” she said, admittedly thrilled to have been nominated by co-exhibitor Knudsen. “It’s just nice to be recognized. I’m becoming more comfortable in what I’m doing.”

Her work here focuses on salt-fired ceramic boxes, often just with a single hole in the back for hanging. They are fascinating, especially if they are hung sequentially to give a triptych or multi-tych perspective.

Knudsen has been working in ceramics since 2004 and she now teaches and has a home studio for her full-time practice. She has a set of unglazed semi-functional water vessels in the shapes of geese. It’s the nature of the migrating animal that got the Denmark native to study them because of how she related to them.

“I like bringing some element of function to it, even if it’s just on the periphery,” Knudsen said of the pieces that can only be filled through their mouths.

Among the other fine works on display, including Mary Swain’s nests with raku eggs and Candice Ring’s dainty porcelain pitchers and vases, there are some paintings of pots by Pierre Bataillard and an installation piece by Gordon Perret. A mannequin general store clerk stands at a counter with a series of canisters that poke fun at prairie life with gophers and granaries in mason jars.

The opening reception takes place on Friday evening during the Snowflake Festival, taking place throughout the Perron District. Profiles will have musical entertainment from Visionary Entertainment as well as fun activities like the Snowman Scavenger Hunt and the Children’s Holiday Art Workshop.