Gallery of BC Ceramics Exhibition

November | — 26

Opening Thursday November 7 6:00-8:00PM

Suzy Birstein

Message in a Bottle
Uncorking the Genie to Inspire

Round about October 2000, I was flipping through my copy of Ceramics Monthly and
noticed a photo of three bottles being exhibited in Louisville, Kentucky. The show was
titled Bottled Spirits, an exhibit of functional and decorative bourbon bottles (bourbon

being a creation of Louisville).

That sume day, as | was perusing my emails | was
stunned to come upon an invitation to participate in
Bottled Spirits. The curator had discovered my website
and thought my style would be perfect for this interna:
tional exhibit. I had never explored the idea of bottle
before but was certainly inspired to invent some.

Last summer I sent two figurative bourbon bottles to
Kentucky. Distill My Heart — Amber was featured on
their invitation and Distil! My Heart — Cobalt was
printed in their local newspaper and website to publi-
cize the exhibit. Both pieces sold,

This year, | was again invited to
participate. While developing new
bottles, I realized their creative
petential stimulating me to pro-
pose an exhibition at the Gallery
of BC ceramics. Message in a
Bottle; Uncorking the Genie to
Inspire is the result.

T work intuitively, directly inspired
by the energy of children’s art,
qutsider art, the art of ancient and
folkloric cultures and twentieth
CoMiry COMeMporiry art.

In Message in a Bottle, | exhibit bottles and larger works both on the wall and
free standing. Works have been inspired by gods, goddesses and icons of
ancient and contemporary cultures: Statue of Liberty, Frida Kahlo and

Ganesha.

These bottles contain a genic that inspires and informs the larger pieces. They
are handbuilt with lowfire sculpture clay and surfaced with colourful
underglazes, glazes, acrylic and iridescent paints.

Each sculpture has a message often employing poetry and music relative to
these objects and their images. I have loved making this body of work. It feels

like a continwous beginning.

As a postscript, | have included a series of ceramic slippers symbolizing
Joseph Campbell's message “... follow your bliss.”

Suzy Birstein
www. suzybirstcin.com

November/December 2002

Suzy Birstein
Samnorhrace cura
Saltimbangue
2002 handbuilt
ceramic painied
with underplazes,
planes and
acrylics,

$5.9 x 25.4%
1779 ema

Suzy Birstein Distill My Heart — Amber 2001 (front

Biography

I am an artist
and educator
working pri-
marily with
clay. 1 gradu-
ated with Hon-
ours in Ceram-
ics from Emily Carr College of Art and
Design in 1980. It is one of my deepest
Wishes to celebrate the everyday — every
day. The provess of making, using and
teaching art from my garden studio in
Kitsilano, surrounded by my family and
our cats fulfills that wish,

The colourful stream-of-consciousness
drawing on my handbuilt pottery has bed
me ta create sculptures in the form of
evocative colourful portrait masks, busts
and figurative spirit bottles. I am inspired
by the visual and spiritual impact of art
from ancient and contemporary world cul-
ture. Creating to the vocals of Jazz and
Blues greats complements my muse,

I love sharing my passion for making art.
1 have taught chikiren at Ants Umbrella for
1] years and been artist-in-residence in the
schools. | provide workshops and classes
for adults and chikiéren in my studio.

Locally, I am represented by the
Crafthouse, Gallery of BC Ceramics and
Circle Craft, as well as Tomato Café and
Lingo’s Cyber Bistro. My work is exhib-
ited, collected and published both nation-
ally and internationally.

and back), handbuilt cramic painted with underglanes,
glazes, and acrylics, 40.6 x 30.5 x 17.9 cm. Work
shown in Kenkucky Art and Craft Gallery, July 2001,

Potters Guild of British Columbia Newsbetter