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Peter Powning

Tripod

Raku, thrown and assembled
7"x5"x4"9"x 10"
1994

Artist Statement

To me, the biggest challenge of making a living as an artist is balancing the need for expression and experimentation with the need for income. Most of what I make has to pass the test of the market place. While I haven't let this dictate what I make it does mean that much of what I do must not only have appeal to me but also be accessible to others. This forces a certain practicality to preside over my working life. Periodically I chafe at this, but it also offers an imposed discipline that perhaps, in the long run, has been beneficial. The habits of production; an almost unconscious stream of work, permits the subconscience to work on what are initially intellectual ideas, lets them ferrnent and transmute, connect with universal themes and forms and evolve into the occasional piece that rises above the rest. This process is elusive, transitory and at the best of times transcendent. Being in the grip of the creative act is almost always more profound than the resulting piece and is what I love most about being an artist. I also thrive on the sense of this shared "secret" with other artists. The core at the centre of all our striving may vary but there does seem to be a similarity in our compulsions.

I once was travelling in England and spent a wonderful afternoon with David Leach along with two other potters. We were having a terrific talk about work, life and the universe in general when David Leach in his shy way, laughed in delight and said how much he loved "the community of pot ters". It was a special moment and a perceptive observation. I have since come to feel that the same sense extends beyond such a closely defmed group to include the community of artists. The whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

I am lucky in my work not only to make a livelihood, but to also be engaged in a wide range of pursuits from the aesthetic and philosophical to the material and technical. I am defined within my community by what I do and it provides me with a base from which I can view and react to the world. It is both a challenging and rewarding existence.

RESUME

PETER W. POWNING

      Selected Shows

        Fire works, Fusion juried travelling show 1993-94.
        '92 International Invitational Exhibition of Ceramic Art, Nat'l Museum 
	of History,
        Taipei,Taiwan.
        The International Exhibition of Glass, Kanazawa, Japan, 1992.
       "North", International touring exhibition. Nordic countries and Europe. 
1992-1994.
        Canadian Craft Museum, Vancouver. "Treasury of Canadian Craft", 1992- 
1994.
        Canadian Contemporary Ceramics, Kunst Klubben Gallery, Oslo, 
	Norway, 1990.
        Lynda Greenberg Gallery, Solo. Ottawa. 1990.
        Franklin Silverstone at the Olga Korper Gallery. Toronto. 1990.
        Sojourn Gallery, Calgary, Alberta. Solo. 1991.
        International Ceramics Festival '89, Mino Japan.
        Ancient Origins, America House Gallery, Piermont, NY. February, 1991.
        Canadian Excellence in Clay 2, Galerie Barbara Silverberg, Montreal,Fall 
1989.
        Centre des Arts Visuels, Duo show, Montreal, 1988.
        Canadian Australian Exchange, travelling in Canada and Australia, 1988.
        Going for Gold, Calgary Olympics Show, 1988.
        The Fletcher Challenge Pottery Award Show, Auckland, New Zealand, 
1987.
        Invitational Show, International Gallery, San Diego, California, May 
1987.
        International Invitational, Sylvia Ullman Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio, 
	April, 1987.
        New Canadian Sculptural Ceramics, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. 
	Invitational, 10 Canadian artists. 1986.
        Sound sculpture as part of the National Sound Symposium. 1984.

      Selected Awards and Collections:

        Strath Butler Award. Excellence in the arts. $10,000. 1993.
        Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, "Broken Arch" donated by Joan 
	Chalmers, 1993.
        Deichman Award for Excellence in Craft, $5,000. 1991.
        Barbara Enser Purchase Award, Fireworks, Juried show sponsored by the 
	Ontario
        Clay and Glass Asc. Ottawa. 1990.
        International Ceramics Competition, Mino Japan, Bronze Award. 1989.
        Royal Bank Collection, 1989.
        Premier's prize, NBCC Bienale, 1988.
        The Betty and Issac Hamburger Sculpture Award, Academy of the Arts, 
	Baltimore, Maryland, 1987
        Canadian Guild of Crafts. Montreal~ Award of Excellence. 1986.


  RR#5, SUSSEX, NEW BRUNSWICK. CANADA. Phone 506-433-1188. 
	Fax 506-433-6979.
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