shamai gibsh
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL
Shamai Gibsh in his studio in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Shamai Gibsh, Bodyblaze, 2018. Stoneware, terra sigillata, smoke fired in reduction. 30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm. This work was shown in Shamai Gibsh’s solo exhibition at Plinth Gallery, Denver, Colorad, in 2018.
Shamai Gibsh, Masks, 2017. Stoneware, terra sigillata, fired using multiple different techniques. 300 cm x 220 cm x 20 cm. Installation at Periscope Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel, 2017.
In my work I transform clay into conceptual objects, oscillating between figuration and abstraction. I share my internal reflections and personal insights, and their significance for the individual and for their reciprocal relationship with society and culture.
I often utilize the ancient Hellenistic technique of painting and covering the clay with terra sigillata. Natural samples of earth gathered in Israel and around the world are the source of my multicolored palette. Using different methods of alternative firing, I transgress the traditional and expected, to create an individual language in my work.
In the days of the Coronavirus, I find myself very much occupied with my own existence. In the first few weeks, I was looking to express myself by creating intentional cracks in my work, using porcelain over stoneware—a technique I have never used before. As the sickness around me developed, I started to feel totally frozen and uncreative and began making what I consider basic ceramics: functional plates and bowls, using stoneware and porcelain, decorated with soluble metals and salts with semi-transparent glaze.
Life has changed. All my teaching and my exhibition schedule in Israel and the USA have been cancelled for the foreseeable future. I believe things will continue to be very different for the next two years. I have started to consider options for teaching online and to create short movies about my practice.
DURING THE LOCKDOWN, SHAMAI GIBSH HAS been making work with deliberate cracks by wrapping stoneware in porcelain, and also producing FUNCTIONAL WARE in these TWO clay bodies
Shamai Gibsh, Cracks, 2020. Porcelain, fired in oxidation, 30 x 30 x 40 cm H.
Shamai Gibsh, Corona Platter, 2020. Porcelain, decorated with soluble salts, fired in oxidation, 30 cm diameter.
Shamai Gibsh, Corona bowl, 2020. Porcelain decorated with soluble salts, fired in oxidation. 12 cm H.
Shamai Gibsh, Corona bowls, 2020. Porcelain, decorated with soluble salts, fired in oxidation, approx. 12 cm H.
Shamai Gibsh, New Tests: Corona Days, 2020. Various clays used to make terra sigillatas, then fired in reduction in a raku kiln with sawdust.