Ceramicist and weaver Sarah Graeme has embarked on a unique journey of creation over the past year.
Her current collection was inspired by that journey and will exhibit at the Nanaimo Ceramics Arts Gallery on Wallace Street until Saturday, June 18.
The title of her collection, Together, Becoming, is the perfect way to frame this body of work, noted a release for Graeme’s show.
It continued that, on the surface, her pieces are gently upward-reaching ceramic vessels crowned by weavings of organic dried plant materials. In her process, Graeme questions environmental responsibility in the context of her identity as an artist of settler descent.
“Her pieces are handmade with readily available materials that reflect her desire to live and create in a respectful way with the world around her,” noted the release.
The plant materials are non-native cultivated garden varieties such as daylily, iris, and Crocosmia, and are gathered on T’Sou-ke, Pacheedaht and W̱SÁNEĆ First Nations territories.
Finished in atmospheric firings of smoke, salt, and wood, Graeme’s work is left with visual imprints of their fuel sources. Embedded in her artwork is a testament to hard work and an awareness of the environmental cost of creating with land-based materials.
In her artistic practice, Graeme has chosen to work within the rhythms of the seasons, including the constraints of seasonal growth. In application, this requires planning; knowing when to plant, when to harvest, and how to fire her work.
As an apprentice to Victoria-based ceramic artist Samantha Dickie, Graeme’s artistic journey has been supported by not only the shared use of Dickie’s studio and extensive ceramic knowledge, but also her own connections within the artistic community.
Graeme’s work can be viewed at 1-140 Wallace St. in Nanaimo from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. until June 18.
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