"My work is an investigation of the role and function of ceramics within culture in general and art in particular. I see ceramics (and pottery) as an independent, autonomous and specific art form and it is this specificity that my work explores, around concepts particular to craft practices, like decoration, function and containment, in a unique relation to various contexts, to time, to history and to human experiences."
Paul Mathieu
Paul Mathieu is a major Canadian ceramist who also enjoys an international reputation. A seasoned artist, with some 20 solo exhibitions and several prestigious awards to his credit, his work is an investigation of the role of ceramics within culture in general and art in particular.
Mathieu’s work, which critiques the stereotypes that affect crafts, explores both the functional and decorative nature of ceramic art: he describes it as “handmade, very permanent, tactile, functional and based on direct physical experience in its making and its appreciation.” Mathieu pursued this exploration of “decorativism” during a three-year residency at the Sanbao Ceramic Art Institute in Jingdezhen, the 1,000-year-old centre of Chinese ceramics. He continues to travel, study and create in China.
Mathieu is also a teacher and writer: he is currently an Associate Professor of Visual Arts at The Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, and is the author of Sex Pots: Eroticism in Ceramics. A native of Bouchette, Quebec, Paul Mathieu lives in Vancouver.
Selected works
