Marianne Boesky Gallery introduces an array of ceramic creations by the Beirut-based artist, Nathalie Khayat, seamlessly integrated within Part II of its summer showcase in Aspen, CO. Through her stonewares, ranging from serving bowls and candle holders to vases, Khayat defies conventional perceptions of the delicate medium. With an unwavering focus on the distinctive material characteristics of clay, Khayat’s ceramics pay homage to the innate organic essence of stoneware. Her pieces, endowed with undulating forms often reminiscent of coral formations emerging from the ocean depths, arise from the artist’s skilful exploration of happenstance and serendipity. In a symphony of contrasts mirroring the natural world’s duality—tranquillity and turmoil, blossoming and withering, existence and demise—Khayat’s ceramics offer a passage into the realm of the unfamiliar.
Clay serves as a conduit to delve into the intricacies of nature’s essence. In an earnest quest to unravel the core nature of these elements, Khayat’s artistic endeavours delve into the unifying threads weaving through an array of forms and rituals.
The artist harnesses an emotive resonance forged through an intimate exploration of light and landscape. Within this poetic framework, reality is stretched, folded, and punctured, allowing for a dance between the tangible and the elusive. Ordinary objects, such as pots, become vessels to explore concepts of germination: the tactile nature of paper, the limitless horizon, the dichotomy of grounding in earth and soaring beyond it, the symphony or absence of sound, the equilibrium of tension and balance, and the tranquillity of dormant whiteness and contemplation. All these facets come to life through the transformative touch of high-fired porcelain and stoneware clays, as well as raku firings. These materials are first shaped on the potter’s wheel, then sculpturally evolved through methods of reconstruction and intricate hand-building techniques.
About Nathalie Khayat
Nathalie Khayat’s (b. 1966; Beirut, Lebanon) artworks have been exhibited across Europe, North America, and the Middle East. Notably, her works have found a permanent home in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. Khayat honed her ceramic craftsmanship at the Centre de Ceramique Bonsecours in Montreal, Canada, and subsequently at The Visual Arts Centre, Montreal Canada. Currently, the artist works between Beirut and Montreal.
Location: Marianne Boesky Gallery
Date: 7 August 2023 – 4 September 2023