Martina Lantin
Born in Montreal, Canada, Martina Lantin received her Master of Fine Art from NSCAD University. She has participated in multiple residencies internationally including the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, the Zentrum für Keramik in Berlin and the LilingCeramic Museum in China. Martina has written for various ceramic publications and edited the 2017 summer issue of the Studio Potter journal. Her work has been included in numerous juried and invitational exhibitions internationally. Recent participation includes “Borderline” the Alberta Biennial 2020 and “The Pots and Passion of Walter Ostrom” at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. Dedicated to the power of the functional form, Martina mines the history of ornament and pattern to explore the mutation and boundaries of functional ceramics through vessels and installations. Martina is an Associate Professor at the Alberta University of the Arts.
Artist Statement
Pottery simultaneously serves as container and carrier of cultural information and manifests the dual roles of concrete utility and abstract symbolism. Drawing on these multiple functions, I seek objects of future nostalgia by making work that is a reverberation of the past. The repetition of shapes and reiteration of pattern is an effort to understand the dynamic between the surface and form. Shifts in scale and the incorporation of mixed media further complicate meaning and continue the development of a deepened understanding of the perceptions at play. Through references to the ubiquitous coffee cup and bathroom tile, my work explores the role of ornament; it’s relationship to the vessel and the human impulse for continuous innovation.
