Gudrun Klix
Australian ceramist.

AIRSCAPE/ LANDSCAPE

Click images to enlarge. Taken at a recent installation at the Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney, Australia. Images & text courtesy Gudrun Klix.

This work is inspired by the desert landscape around Alice Springs, Central Australia, where Klix made various excursions in a 4 wheel drive and small airplanes, flying over the landscape, exploring, photographing and collecting material for my work.

The resulting work is an installation that consists of a large group of related ceramic pieces mounted on the walls and a series of five steel trays on the floor. The trays contain materials collected and brought back to Sydney from the outback: sand, rocks, saltpan from lakes, bark and charcoal, some of which were brought back in suitcases and bags.

The ceramic pieces are loosely based on land forms as viewed from the air. While they share an overall similarity in shape, Klix was interested in constructing work that had varied and multi-layered references. The pieces walls pieces are in varying orientations, groupings and changing planes. Klix was interested in creating a space that would take the viewer on an aerial-like journey, providing a metaphorical view from above without leaving the gallery. In the air we gain a new perspective, as we are distanced from the land. We see new colors, forms, textures, and experience the world in a wholly different way. Likewise forms and shapes normally seen on the ground take on a new meaning when viewed suspended in space or mounted on the walls, and allow for a visual journey between layers and planes. The myriad textures and colors of the pieces are designed to evoke aspects of the landscape.

The materials in the trays on the other hand are intended to ground the viewer, bringing her/him back to the reality on the ground while at the same time focusing attention on what we perceive daily, but now with an altered vision.

The object of Klix' work is to reconnect with the land.

Gudrun Klix is Sr. lecturer in ceramics at Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney, Australia. Email: G.Klix@sca.usyd.edu.au.

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