Clay is one of humanity's oldest creative companions. It records fingerprints, holds memory, cracks under pressure, hardens through fire, and can return to the earth. It exists somewhere between permanence and impermanence, control and chance, utility and expression...
For this issue of HAUS-A-REST, we invited artists to explore Clay Every Which Way.
We are interested in clay beyond the pot, beyond tradition, beyond expectation.
We selected work that embraces ceramics, sculpture, installation or functional objects.
The clay appears only as an idea, a metaphor for transformation, identity, labour, geology, archaeology, ritual, play, memory, or the body itself.
The work spans the use of unfired clay, clay slips, earth pigments, digital clay simulation, or explores landscapes where clay is found.
This issue also explores repetition, touch, repair, fragility, resilience, or the relationship between maker and material.
Artist: Evelyn Baker
@evelynbakerart / website - https://www.evelynbaker.art
“The Four Seasons Collection (Winter)”
Winter reflects the quieter stage of nature’s cycle. Its colder palette and enclosed posture suggest a landscape withdrawing into itself, embracing stillness before renewal can begin.
Organic forms envelop the figure, blurring the boundary between body and environment until it becomes a guardian of the season rather than an individual. The sculpture explores the spiritual presence within nature, suggesting that decay is not an ending but a necessary part of life’s continual transformation.
Artist: Mel Jahr
“Abendbrot”, literally “evening bread,” is a traditional German dinner of fresh bread, cured meats, cheeses and simple toppings shared around the table. For me, it holds memories of family, conversation and a home that no longer exists in the same form. I recreated these foods in clay as a way of preserving those ordinary, intimate moments. This piece connects to Clay Every Which Way through clay’s ability to transform everyday objects and memories into something tangible. Food itself is temporary, consumed and quickly disappears. Through this artwork it becomes permanent. Clay is a material for memory: By creating food items I deliberately blur the boundary between functional object, sculpture and ritual. Abendbrot uses clay not simply to imitate food, but to explore how a material can carry personal history and emotions.