Faculty News: Timea Tihanyi

Art Division Lecturer Timea Tihanyi (MFA 2003) went to the island of Bornholm in Denmark last summer, invited to participate in the Artist in Residence program that was related to European Ceramic Context 2010. She stayed and worked in the town of Nexo at Mobelfabrikken, an old furniture factory that now has a ceramics and glassblowing studio. While there, Tihanyi created a public art intervention project inspired by the interesting history and natural beauty of the island. Here is what she says about the project:

“Seventy-nine ceramics sculptures were placed along the bicycle paths of the island during a week in September. Each sculpture was meant to serve as a marker in the form of a roughly shaped block of unfired clay. They were left unfired to allow the natural process of erosion gradually melting the clay back into the soil. Inside the compartment of each clay block, I placed a small fragile porcelain sculpture. During the hours and days of placing and consequently documenting the sculptures, I had a chance to discover again and again each subtle and gorgeous detail of land, sea, and sky; the constant beauty of textures, colors and movements, which never stopped to amaze me. Over time, some of the sculptures were moved around, people either adopted them, or facilitated the first steps towards their inevitable decay into the ground.”

Tihanyi currently has a show at SOIL Gallery titled The Bornholm Project: What is beauty if not the uncontainable held for a brief moment?. The exhibit will remain up until 24 December.