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Artists show their work and visitors consume. In many cases, these are still the unwritten rules of an exhibition. At Prospects, Isa van Lier (1996) breaks this concept wide open and invites visitors to gather around a brick of clay to jointly create. This collective approach not only stretches the boundaries of the artist’s own individual practice, but also enables spectators to share in the joys of her working process. Van Lier: ‘I want to create a place where you can trust your hands instead of your head. At the same time I am curious to find out what happens when visitors invest their attention instead of their money; how energy can be transformed into a sculpture.’ During this process, the act of creating is more important to her than the final product.
Van Lier is known for her cheerful, ceramic sculptures resembling little creatures in a variety of soft colours and funny guises. For these she finds inspiration in the time she spent in Japan, where she was introduced to Zen Buddhism and animistic Shintoism. The latter assumes that everything has a soul; that objects and natural phenomena are inhabited by gods or spirits and contain their own individual energy. In 2021, at Art Rotterdam, Van Lier presented a Grabbelton (a lucky dip) from which visitors could pick a little artwork for 10 euros. This resulted in unique interactions between the artist and visitors. Come Clay With Me (2024) continues her research into transforming the interactions between artist and visitor, with the aim of creating something that transcends both parties.
Text: Esther Darley
Translated from Dutch by Marie Louise Schoondergang (The Art of Translation)