Pleasure and pain, success and failure: working with clay has a distinctive set of challenges and thrills. As any potter will say with resignation, breakages and unwanted results are common. Yet, clay’s potential for transformation makes it a beguiling medium to explore material effects as well as ideas. The makers in Fire & Earth all want to solve a problem or problems while juggling variables, such as the chemistry of glazes. Such experiments can be immensely satisfying to work through and the anticipation addictive.
The works on display in Fire & Earth have been selected by Dr Emma Bugden, a writer, curator, and arts strategist with over 20 years’ experience in Aotearoa’s creative sector. She is currently the Strategic Lead for Creative Industries at Whanganui & Partners. She is Chairperson of the Blumhardt Foundation, a charitable trust established to foster the Aotearoa craft sector.
- Dr Kyla Mackenzie, Curator and Collections Manager
Dr Emma Bugden is a writer, curator, and arts strategist with over 20 years’ experience in Aotearoa’s creative sector. She is currently the Strategic Lead for Creative Industries at Whanganui & Partners, where she led the city’s successful bid to become a UNESCO City of Design. Emma has held key roles including Director of ARTSPACE Aotearoa and Senior Curator at The Dowse Art Museum. She is Chairperson of the Blumhardt Foundation, a charitable trust established to foster the Aotearoa craft sector.
