Text by Carollina Lauriano / Photos by Samuel Esteves
In the late 1940s, Pablo Picasso started a series of studies in ceramics, a practice that remained with him till the end of his days. Initially, he aimed to mass-produce the pieces, churning out countless replicas, much like he did with prints. However, his initial dabbling in ceramics veered towards practical objects like plates, pots, cups, and vases. Eventually, Picasso also saw another angle to the practice: extending his paintings into objects that directly engaged with his cubist perspective.
Down in Brazil, Francisco Brennand was another artist who branched out into ceramics. Amidst the monumental sculptures that defined his artistic flair, he also delved into the utilitarian, reviving the workshop his family had shuttered. But there were those who took the opposite route, like Betty Woodman, an American artist who started off with utilitarian ceramics, only to later broaden her scope into artistic practice.
These examples are key to note because, although interest in ceramics has been on the upswing in recent years, there are still reservations when it comes to the intersections of this language. “It makes sense to use clay for pots, vases, pitchers, and plates, but I like to have things both ways. I make things that could be functional, but I really want them to be considered artworks,” Woodman puts it into context.
From Woodman’s words, I reckon that’s where the exhibition “E o Tempo Tomou Forma” finds its footing. By bringing together a collection of objects more geared toward design for the first time, artist Jacqueline Faus shows us it’s possible to transpose her entire artistic exploration into pieces meant for a different kind of use. And here’s a thought: have these objects truly shifted her gesture entirely at the expense of function?
On my view, the answer is no.
Just because now her expressiveness is manifested in a table or a lamp doesn’t mean her contemporary discourse has been lost. These pieces carry the entire discourse of the artist, who sees ceramics as an intuitive space to contemplate memories, be they the material’s own memories and the ancestral gestures of shaping clay and turning it into ceramics, or her own childhood memories that come to light when establishing a direct connection with the realization that her mother also practiced ceramics for a period of her life. Or even when the artist continues to explore how the gesture of painting relates to ceramics, its gains and its losses.
Slide to see more works by Jacque Faus ➝
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To see the full catalogue of Jacque Faus click here.
