The title of the exhibition relates to the process of building up each individual work from its base, each piece a different variation of coiling, layered and intertwined in different nuances. Some draw attention to their coils, whereas others have been worked and smoothed over to create a ‘complete’ object. This sense of exploration with the material is continued in the use of glazes: almost every piece has received three or four different layers of glaze before being refired, building up a depth of patina.
The selection of work for the exhibition includes pieces from two artistic residencies that Gileva attended in China and Japan to study traditional pottery methods, a line of enquiry which she still continues. The way that she twists and braids the clay hints at another timeless, ancestral practice in her work: that of weaving. Gileva’s work embodies the age-old interaction between the maker and the object, and to a certain extent, between the distant past and the present.
From the Base Going Upwards opens online on 18th May, and will run until 16th June. A limited edition print has been produced specially for the exhibition.
Read the interview with Elena Gileva
Limited Edition print by Elena Gileva
Past exhibitions at Square Art Projects:
2019. Elena Gileva - London Art Fair