Ceramicist Elsa Jara produced over a dozen clay sculptures earlier this year when lives and working routines were compromised, threatened or changed.
Creating the pieces in her garage and drawing on her Chilean heritage, Elsa says the viewers will find the sculptures relatable as they depict various emotions of anger, fear, frustration, love, support and nurturing which were magnified during Covid.
After doing community work and teaching ceramics for 20 years, she never had time to produce enough of her own works so this exhibition will be Elsa’s first and she is excited to get viewer feedback.
“Just as with humans, clay is raw and comes from the earth,” she said.
“It is fragile yet strong and can be shaped and moulded by its experiences; I wanted to express all of our mixed feelings in the past year.
“I believe we all have degrees of anxiety and depression, especially if things don’t go our way but these can always be overcome with love, faith and hope in humanity in general.
“I wanted portray that there is always light at the end of the tunnel.”
You can catch ‘Respiro I Breathe’ from this Saturday, November 20, to Tuesday, December 21, Tuesday to Saturday, 10am-4pm.
Elsa is also offering a two-day masterclass at Bankstown Arts Centre on Thursdays, November 25 and December 2, where you can learn foundational hand-building (ancient pottery-making techniques).
