Justin Novak and Sam Knopp
Both Justin Novak and Sam Knopp make the familiar unfamiliar in their ceramic work. Novak invited his former student Sam Knopp to participate in TEN OUT OF TEN. Their works provide a new perspective on traditional materials. Novak's small-scale astronauts re-position the long-standing tradition of porcelain figurines, while Knopp's use of clay asks us to re-evaluate the materials themselves.
Justin Novak on Venture
The wall piece in this exhibition explores the current of idealism that runs through the history of porcelain traditions. Because it is a tradition long-dedicated to the rhetorical pursuits of lyricism, cuteness and sentimentality, the ceramic figurine holds the remarkable potential, whether intended or not, to reorient or question the familiar. The sanitized vitreous surface of the glazed figurine conjures a pristine sense of isolation; a virtual existence that is as cool and aloof as life in space. Viewed as allegorical figures, this pair might serve as a cypher through which to entertain discrepancies between our origins and aspirations.
About Justin Novak: Justin Novak has been an Associate Professor of Visual Art and Material Practice at Emily Carr since the Fall of 2007, where he teaches in the areas of Ceramics and Illustration. After receiving his BFA in Communications Design from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, Justin spent fifteen years working as a freelance illustrator in New York City, for a range of clients (including The New York Times, The New York Daily News, Macmillan Publishing, Harper Collins, Tor Books, and the Book-of-the-Month Club, among others). A second career followed, as an exhibiting artist working primarily in the medium of ceramics. Much of his ceramic work has been developed within international residency programs, including the Kohler Factory in Wisconsin, the Walbryzch Factory in Walbryzch, Poland, the Arabia Factory in Helsinki and the National Workshops of Art and Crafts in Copenhagen.
Sam Knopp on her work
Material matters. I am interested in the somatic experience and the tacit knowledge that comes from a user’s interaction with an object. The clay body has the potential to be more than just the means to create a form or the surface to adorn. I have long been interested in the clay body as a communicative vehicle with its own unique colours and textures and much of my practice is spent making, mixing, layering and laminating different clays together for unexpected material and tactile experiences. These two pieces show two different clays I've mixed; one to reference the commonplace building material of concrete and the other actually utilizing another common building material (bricks) into the clay body. I like contrasting these rough and even crude clay bodies with a clean approach to form and simple glazing for a marriage of opposites that bring out and question the qualities of each other.
About Sam Knopp: Sam Knopp is a ceramic artist working outside of Edmonton, Canada. While studying at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver (BFA 2013) she was the recipient of the Circle Craft Graduation Award and the BMO First Art Award. Doing residencies and workshops at the Medalta Historic Clay District, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and Banff Centre for the Arts, she has pursued both a functional and sculptural practice exhibiting and selling work across Canada and the United States. In 2015 she was awarded the Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Award for Emerging Artist in Craft and Design and is currently working towards her first solo exhibition at the Stony Plain Art Gallery.