ART & PERFORMANCES
Untitled, 2022 (France)
A permanent sculpture made for the exhibition 'KAMER VOL KLEI (a room full of clay) at the Museum Albert van Dyck in Schilde, Belgium, running from Februari 28 - June 4, 2023. The sculpture consists of wool and clay slip mixed with natural green pigments. These materials were shaped on a previously sculpted mass of clay mixed with vermiculite. When the skin of wool and coloured clay slip had hardened, the clay was taken away from under it.
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A permanent sculpture made for the exhibition 'KAMER VOL KLEI (a room full of clay) at the Museum Albert van Dyck in Schilde, Belgium, running from Februari 28 - June 4, 2023. The sculpture consists of wool and clay slip mixed with natural green pigments. These materials were shaped on a previously sculpted mass of clay mixed with vermiculite. When the skin of wool and coloured clay slip had hardened, the clay was taken away from under it.
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Intertwining, 2022 (Ringebu, Norway)
Every year Torbjørn Kvasbø, director of the Centre of Ceramic Art, invites an artist to realize a project in the ‘fjøset’, the old cow stable in the reconverted former farm in which the Centre is located. The ‘fjøset’ is left in its rough, unforgiving state.
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Every year Torbjørn Kvasbø, director of the Centre of Ceramic Art, invites an artist to realize a project in the ‘fjøset’, the old cow stable in the reconverted former farm in which the Centre is located. The ‘fjøset’ has kept its rough, unforgiving state. Each artist works with the same 10 tons of clay. Alexandra Engelfriet, invited artist in 2022, choose to turn the dry clay into a thick slurry and mix it with wool from local sheep. This method refers to an age-old practice of mixing clay with straw or another material to use for building. The particular breed of sheep that roams the high plateau above Ringebu during the summer months, feeding on the grasses, reindeer mosses and shrubs that grow there, develop exceptionally long-haired coats to withstand the cold climate in winter. In one movement, that takes one minute, the sheepshearer frees each sheep from its thick winter coat as soon as spring arrives.
Through an intimate process of physical interaction with the materials, the work evolved over the three weeks that Alexandra Engelfriet worked in the space. The resulting installation 'Intertwining' was exhibited from June 5 to September 12, 2022. After drying it has been preserved as a permanent work of art.
Filmmaker Brage Kvasbø made a film of the making process (see Motion).
Filmmaker Brage Kvasbø made a film of the making process (see Motion).
Every year Torbjørn Kvasbø, director of the Centre of Ceramic Art, invites an artist to realize a project in the ‘fjøset’, the old cow stable in the reconverted former farm in which the Centre is located. The ‘fjøset’ is left in its rough, unforgiving state.
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Every year Torbjørn Kvasbø, director of the Centre of Ceramic Art, invites an artist to realize a project in the ‘fjøset’, the old cow stable in the reconverted former farm in which the Centre is located. The ‘fjøset’ has kept its rough, unforgiving state. Each artist works with the same 10 tons of clay. Alexandra Engelfriet, invited artist in 2022, choose to turn the dry clay into a thick slurry and mix it with wool from local sheep. This method refers to an age-old practice of mixing clay with straw or another material to use for building. The particular breed of sheep that roams the high plateau above Ringebu during the summer months, feeding on the grasses, reindeer mosses and shrubs that grow there, develop exceptionally long-haired coats to withstand the cold climate in winter. In one movement, that takes one minute, the sheepshearer frees each sheep from its thick winter coat as soon as spring arrives.
Through an intimate process of physical interaction with the materials, the work evolved over the three weeks that Alexandra Engelfriet worked in the space. The resulting installation 'Intertwining' was exhibited from June 5 to September 12, 2022. After drying it has been preserved as a permanent work of art.
Filmmaker Brage Kvasbø made a film of the making process (see Motion).
Filmmaker Brage Kvasbø made a film of the making process (see Motion).
Untitled, 2022 (France)
"Alexandra Engelfriet is a Dutch artist/performer who works with clay and wool, sculpting pieces that evoke the elements and our connection to the natural world. Observing her I felt at times, she was drawing from within herself coils of emotion as she made her piece folding, spreading, pummeling, swirling, tearing and molding clay soaked wool. Alexandra’s gestures are dance- like, intense, forceful but also light and gentle.
I shadowed Alexandra’s movements framing and photographing her creative process. We moved in silence completely absorbed in the making of the piece. Improvisation is key to Alexandra’s process. And her concentration is trance -like.
A shell made of undulating dips and mounds was gradually covered by a skin of wool soaked in red clay and then sprinkled with pigment. The piece is called Untitled. I photographed Alexandra over three days in Jan/Feb. 2022." Alison Harris
Shedding Skin II, 2021 (France)
"A thick layer of soft, white clay on the floor of my studio was first shaped into a sculptural and undulating ‘landscape’. It was consequently covered with a ‘skin,’ consisting of a thin layer of wool drenched in slip, made from the same white clay, mixed with a glue made of boiled flour. The skin softened the shapes of the clay. When it was dry, I stripped the skin of the clay during a two-day performance. The clay shed its skin." With support of the Mondriaan Fund.
"A thick layer of soft, white clay on the floor of my studio was first shaped into a sculptural and undulating ‘landscape’. It was consequently covered with a ‘skin,’ consisting of a thin layer of wool drenched in slip, made from the same white clay, mixed with a glue made of boiled flour. The skin softened the shapes of the clay. When it was dry, I stripped the skin of the clay during a two-day performance. The clay shed its skin." With support of the Mondriaan Fund.