Sculpture - Tablets - Chargers

Paul Chaleff

Curated by Grigori Fateyev

TurnPark Art Space

May 17th - August 3rd

Opening Reception May 24th, 3-6pm

Paul Chaleff's work reflects a deep understanding of the physical properties of clay, he encourages its capacity for transformation. The unique molecular structure of clay allows it to transition between different states—liquid, plastic, leather-hard, and rock-hard—enabling a multifaceted engagement for an artist, both challenging and rewarding. 

Chaleff collaborates with his clay. He appreciates how it can flow and resist, and he nurtures it to shape his artistic expression. This tactile dialogue pushes him to explore themes of form, texture, and space, allowing the physicality of the material to inform his pieces.

 

Sculpture – Tablets – Chargers assembles works from three phases of the artist’s career. In a series of Chargers, he urges his large thrown plates to move during the firing process, creating distorted rounded shapes that result from intentionally inviting the unexpected. With the Tablets, he at first uses color to describe movement and weight, and then changes to heavily textured surfaces to further discuss the power of this movement. His Sculptures describe forces endemic to rushing water or molten iron. The large scale and inherent imbalance of Gatineau in Green impose upon the viewer a sense of being pushed, pulled, and overwhelmed by something greater than oneself.

 

In this exhibition, the resistance and malleability of clay mirror the creative process itself. This relationship between artist and medium embodies Chaleff’s artistic philosophy. The physical properties of clay have become a source of inspiration and a testament to the beauty of imperfection.

-Grigori Fateyev, curator