EXHIBITION "Ephemeral - Eternal" an art show of ceramics by Aarti Vir at Art & Aesthetic Gallery, F-213/A, 1st Floor, Old M.B. Road, Lado Sarai > 4th September to 1st October 2016

Time : 11.00 am - 7.00 pm (Sundays Closed)  Add to Calendar 04/09/2016 11:00 01/10/2016 19:00 Asia/Kolkata EXHIBITION "Ephemeral - Eternal" an art show of ceramics by Aarti Vir Event Page : http://www.delhievents.com/2016/09/exhibition-ephemeral-eternal-art-show.html Art & Aesthetic Gallery, F-213/A, 1st Floor, Old M.B. Road, Lado Sarai, New Delhi DD/MM/YYYY - Exhibition on View

Entry : Free

Venue : Art & Aesthetic Gallery, F-213/A, 1st Floor, Old M.B. Road, Lado Sarai, New Delhi
Venue Info : www.artandaesthetic.com | Map | Nearest Metro Station - 'Saket(Yellow Line)'
Area : Lado Sarai

Event Description : Art & Aesthetic Gallery presents "Ephemeral - Eternal" an art show of ceramics by Aarti Vir.

About the Exhibition - Artist's Statement
A threshold, by definition is that place in time or space that is on the cusp of change. I have long been fascinated by this concept of a place that is neither inside nor out, yesterday nor tomorrow, here nor there. Framed by a doorway, the threshold represents a pause - a moment of stillness, holding within it the certainty of passage. And they have led me, the thresholds and the doorways ever more insistently inwards. Seeking essence. Toward a stillness beyond the momentary. The passing clouds and ceaseless rivers. Metaphors for the world of the senses. Never the same from one moment to the next. Embracing impermanence. Sloughing off the husk. Feathers moulting. Awaiting renewal. The singular beauty of desiccated butterfly wings. An archetype of transience and fragility. And the web. Stretching, connecting, fraying, reconnecting - inter connecting - all life. All that is neither inside nor out, yesterday nor tomorrow, here nor there.
This body of work has found inspiration in Sufi poetry, Buddhist thought, Japanese haiku, nirgunibhajans, and my own journey.

Technique and material
I work with clay because apart from the fact that I love the material - the malleability, the expressiveness, the completely 'down to earth' ness of it, the entire process of making and firing engages me on multiple levels. I love the fragility of the raw work. And the transformation after it has been through fire. Every stage in the process is fraught with uncertainty and an ultimate relinquishing of control - much like life.
I make my own clay body, slips and glazes. This involves a fair bit of testing and tweaking. And although I have a few staples and favourites amongst the slips and glazes, I enjoy experimenting with the material, tailoring it to suit whatever I am making . My usual clay body is a brown stoneware. I have also used porcelain to make some of the work in this show. 
The work goes through several stages in the making, drying and firing processes and every stage has it's own rhythm. 
Beginning with a sketch or a maquette, I hand build the work. A meditative, often slow process, the work evolves gradually through a series. Often the same concept explored in varied forms. Sometimes new ideas and directions emerge during the making. 
I fire in a wood kiln. First to 900 centigrade. After which the work is slipped and glazed. Often the work already has a layer of slip and maybe some drawing on it before the first firing. I enjoy layering slips, sometimes painting, waxing over it, to create a resist, then spraying the glaze. 
The glaze firing to 1280-1300 centigrade, takes between 22-26 hours in the wood kiln. I also salt glaze. At 1280 C I introduce salt ( sodium chloride ) into the kiln. The sodium settles on the work, accentuating texture and colour. 

Aarti Vir studied painting for six years before spending three years at the Golden Bridge Pottery . She returned to her hometown, Hyderabad- India in 1999 and set up her studio, making oil fired salt glazed, sometimes functional, sometimes sculptural work. 
She has apprenticed briefly with MickiSchloessingk in Wales and Sandy Lockwood in Australia.
She has spent two months as artist in Residence at the Gaya Ceramic Art Centre in Bali in 2012 and six  weeks in Fuping , China, with a group of 17 other Indian ceramic artists to set up the Museum of Indian Ceramics there, in August- September 2013.
Her work has been exhibited in India, Japan, Australia, USA, Bali, China and South Korea. 
She is currently making wood fired salt glazed work.

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