In the exhibition, you will find artisanal ceramic sculptures intended for more than just our viewing pleasures. When submerged, Samuels and Morrison’s art becomes new habitat for marine life.
Nina Samuels focuses on the contrast and connections between industrial items and marine growth, which stems from her marine restoration work submerging ceramic pieces underwater.
Her exhibiting art features a series of manmade objects covered in marine life – both sculpted and real. Viewers will find ceramic vessels with meticulously sculpted and glazed textures, sculpted marine debris with ceramic growth, vessel shaped buoys with real barnacle growth, a small tank with native living growth on it and more.
Nature has always been at the center of Charles Morrison’s work.
“I often use wild clays and other natural materials as a medium to sculpt with. When I’m not using materials I have sourced from the earth, I’m making work inspired by it,” Morrison says.
“Having grown up by the ocean and now being an artist in coastal Florida, I use the sea as a starting point for my ideas. Anything from the humblest microorganisms to the most revered fish in the sea are a constant source of inspiration. Whether I am making anatomically correct versions of sea creatures or using an abstracted version of their forms in a sculpture, the fluid nature of all ocean species comes to life in clay.
“The more I studied marine biology for my work, the more I marveled at it and desired to have another dimension of interaction in my work. I have begun making ceramic sculptures and submerging them underwater to serve as artificial marine reefs. This provides a habitat for the very creatures I am so inspired by.”
“to bring healing and understanding moving forward. Researching indigenous cultures of the world along with a deep interest in reggae music and the messages embedded in the songs, I’ve cultivated this series of ancestral relics, vessels and totems brought forth today to remind us of yesterday.”
https://moreanartscenter.org/exibition/nina-samuels-and-charles-morrison-earth-and-ocean/
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