Re:Consider - Crafting a sustainable future
April 22 is Earth Day, a celebration of our planet and a reminder of the care it deserves. As we look at craft as a means for more sustainable living, we share ways in which artists are achieving and exploring sustainability in holistic and thoughtful ways.
Sublime Waste,
Eveline Kolijn
We are all in this together
The actions we take as makers and consumers have a major impact on future generations. The most effective and enduring forms of sustainability incorporate environmental, social and economic measures. Re:consider contemplates ways we can craft a sustainable future.
Many artists are achieving and exploring sustainability in holistic and thoughtful ways while working toward a greater good. Community building is a common thread interwoven in many craft artist’s practices. As Julia Reimer of Firebrand Glass says of her contributions to a sustainable craft community: “It is one of the things I am proud of in my life when I see the skill and accomplishments of our former studio assistants because I believe that a strong and vital craft community makes my career and life better.”
Sustainability is hardly a new concept, it has been part of the tradition of Alberta indigenous artists in how materials are respectfully gathered and used, to the value bestowed on the keepers of knowledge passing down skills and stories that are an integral part of a holistic existence.
“As a cultural practitioner I take an active ethical stance in the production of my own work as well as passing on my knowledge to community members and students at Portage College, to contribute to a sustainable art community. I find practicing ancient art forms to be very healing for one’s health and well-being, it also gives one great pride in who we are as people and as a culture who is almost lost.” Ruby Sweetman
To many makers, sustainability is an ethos that’s entwined throughout their practice, from the materials they use, to the processes and impact their creative choices make on the environment.
“I’ve always considered sustainability to be one of the cornerstones of my practice as a maker of wooden objects. Wood is a renewable resource if it isn’t consumed at a rate greater than it can regrow. It means building in a way that is both structurally and aesthetically sound. A table can be constructed to last generations, but it will not survive long if its design is subject to short-term fads or if its visual or functional design is so ill-considered that nobody wants to keep it around.” – Doug Haslam
Counter to mass-consumption and mass-produced goods
Sam Uhlick's Studio,
photo by Ryan Parker Photography
Nowadays there is a renewed sense of urgency to conversations around sustainability. It has many looking to how things were done in the past, before times of great excess, fast fashion, disposable goods and their environmental impact. Craft has long traditions of being counter to mass-consumption and mass-produced goods.
Sam Uhlick has been a full-time production potter for the past 50 years, creating over 50,000 pieces of functional pottery. Sam apprenticed under Michael Cardew, himself a student of Bernard Leach, who is considered the ‘father’ of the studio potters’ movement in the UK. Sam built his home/studio and much of his own equipment, sourcing everything from reused industrial kiln bricks to scrap metal.
He creates his own clay body, processing three raw dry clays ordered straight from quarries. “I’ve purchased four B train loads or 120 tonnes of raw clay when I was about 26 years old and I have maybe enough left to last me to the end.”
Makers today have never had greater access to material, technology, and information and continue to explore craft traditions in new ways. New generations of makers are increasingly leveraging sustainability in their marketing and overall practice.
Chilliwack River Series,
Cathy Terepocki
Cathy Terepocki’s
Chilliwack River Series
(pictured above) is an experimentation with making functional ceramics from the wild clay she collects by hand or shovel from various stops along the Chilliwack River near her home studio in Yarrow, British Columbia. Each clay body she sources comes with its own unique properties and technical challenges. The source is cleverly referenced in the simple and utilitarian stamps and decals revealing their geolocation. “The Chilliwack River Clay series is as much about the materials as it is about the human connection to place. It is also an investigation into labour and industry and the positive role of technology in sustainable practice.”
With sustainability as the cornerstone of so many craft practices, there is ample ground to explore. Mirroring the reciprocity of ecological systems, we all play a role in achieving sustainability. Artists often act as instigators, investigators, and trailblazers. The featured artists are both creating a demand for sustainability and responding to an existing demand. Re:consider is sure to spark new ideas, conversations and even initiatives.
The original article was part of Re:Consider, an exhibition curated by and shown at the Alberta Craft Gallery - Edmonton. It was published on the Fall issue of Alberta Craft Magazine - September 2019.
Participating artists: Trudie Allen, MJ Belcourt, Richard Boulet, Linda Chow, Firebrand Glass (Julia Reimer & Tyler Rock), Evelyn Grant, Crys Harse, Doug Haslam, Eveline Kolijn, Loyal Loot (Doha Chebib Lindskoog & Anna Thomas), Irene Rasetti, John Smith-Jones, Ruby Sweetman, Cathy Terepocki, Sam Uhlick.