The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

DURING his short visit back home, budding Bahamian ceramist Alistair Stevenson unveiled his latest art renderings that reflect the 10 months he spent China.

The “Outlets” exhibit opened last Thursday at the D’Aguilar Art Foundation and will run until August 22, with viewing times from 10am to 4pm daily.

All artwork will be available for purchase and the proceeds from this exhibition will be used to complete his studies of the ceramic arts in China this fall.

The young artist embarked on his journey to China to advance his studies in ceramic arts. He returned home for summer vacation several weeks ago and immediately went in the studio to create stoneware and porcelain ceramics for the show.

This year’s body of work includes Mr Stevenson’s ceramics, drawings and photography which depict  the ways in which he adapted to the foreign country and its culture. During this period, he discovered that two of his main hobbies quickly became photography and drawing, and the themes that kept coming to the surface in his work were concepts of homesickness, cigarettes and loneliness.

“ ‘Outlets’ is a showing of ceramic pieces, photography and drawings. The photography and drawing were pieces that I did over the past year in China. The reason why I had not worked in ceramics during that time was because I was not studying any ceramic or any art courses; I was just studying Chinese language,” he said.  

The ceramic work Mr Stevenson created during the five weeks he has been home was added to the collection of drawings and photographs featured that he completed while he was in China.

“Drawing and photography became an outlet for me living in a foreign country and culture, embracing a new language. I found that drawing became an outlet and in that I discovered different outlets about myself. The drawings that are featured in the show are just of random people that I saw in China, people who were just sitting around in a coffee shop or on the train. There were also people who I had pose for me,” he told Tribune Arts and Entertainment.

The ceramic work speaks to Bahamian mythology and focuses on the lusca – a giant squid or half shark, half octopus creature that is believed to live in blue holes and destroy fishing vessels.

“I think Bahamian mythology is something we need to touch on a little bit more, especially with the Bahamas being such a young country. I think we do not have a very strong established culture as yet – we are only 41 years old – compared to other countries that are literally hundreds of thousands of years old. I think the culture is still building and I think mythology can play a big role in that. So for me I decided to explore to mythological creature the lusca,” he said.

Two years ago Mr Stevenson visited China for first time and delved deeply into the artistic expression of the Chinese people. Over a six-week period he and other artists from North America visited four provinces: Shanghai, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Beijing. Three weeks of his time was spent in an artist’s residency programme. He lived and worked at the JDZ-WVU International Ceramic Studios in Jingdezhen, which is known for producing approximately 90 per cent of the world’s blue and white porcelain.

Shortly after this experience, he decided to study full-time in the country.

“Being in China has been a character-building challenge, because what you find is that western mannerisms and Chinese mannerisms are completely different, and you find that in most cultures, even if you go next door to a different country you find that their way of looking at things is completely different. The difference between going to the Caribbean and finding differences and going to Asia and finding differences, it throws you off. It has been a challenge learning the language, getting used to the food and getting used to the people,” he said.

“I hope to as much as possible get a better understanding of Chinese techniques. I would love to learn their techniques and their approach to ceramics, both technically and conceptually. On a personal level, I want to get a more thorough understanding of the culture. Despite all of the challenges I had, it has been very rewarding and these are just challenges any other person has when they go to any other place,” he said.

Mr Stevenson returns to China on August 26.