Malta’s rich Neolithic archeological treasures are living reminders of our interconnection with those that came before us, our ancestors. In this workshop, ceramic sculptor Erin McGuiness will guide participants through a process of active imagination. A creative practice of listening for the whispers of our ancient forbearers. Using simple hand-building techniques we will make clay replicas of Our Lady of Tarxien, The Sleeping Lady or other ceremonial and household vessels from this foundational society. Without written texts, the objects they created and the stone gathering places they built are living libraries whose mysterious stories can be read with our eyes, hands, intuitions and imagination.
McGuiness will share interpretations, images and research from her month long residency immersed in the stone and clay remains of these early settlers of the Maltese archipelago. Her exploration of the complex language of symbols and spaces carved of limestone; the spirals, female figures, birds, rams, bulls, pigs, goats, snakes and the 3-dimensional spaces above and below ground. Remnants and shards that point the way to answer our questions. Did these early people dance, sing, grieve, give birth, seek healing and transformation in these spaces and with these objects? What resonates with our struggles today, what did they know that can help guide us now?
California based sculptor Erin McGuiness incorporates contemplative practices with art making, working primarily with clay and found objects. She uses hand building processes such as carving and coil building, to create ceramic forms that are totemic, archetypal and play at the intersection of dualities; light and dark, monastic and lush, wild and cultivated. The pieces explore themes of the vessel-as-archetype, divine feminine & masculine, inter-relatedness of forms, ancestral recovery of earth based devotional practices and the animation of matter. Ultimately the forms and 3 dimensional spaces she creates provide a locus or quiet place where viewers are invited into their own personal form of communion. Her teaching philosophy explores the body as our most important tool in art making and the creation of objects made-by-hand, as a nonlinear process to cultivate myth-making capabilities. Integrating meditation, energy and embodiment exercises into the direct manipulation of earth – clay.
Curiosity and a sense of play activate our innate visioning abilities, while the receptive earthiness of clay keep us firmly grounded in the present moment. By recreating an object we come to understand it more deeply, seeing its subtlety and feeling a sense of the spirit of the piece. Through creative practice and using our imagination, workshop participants may unlock the script of these past peoples. Cultivating more understanding of the very ground that contemporary residents and visitors of Malta are blessed to walk on and with. A process to remember and invite into today’s cultural dialogue, the wisdom and life teachings of the original human inhabitants of Malta.
Date: 22nd September 2023
Time: 6:00pm
Duration of workshop- approximately 2 hours
Materials: Clay
Fee: Eur 5
Venue: Valletta Design Cluster – Maker’s Space
Age: 16+
Language of instruction: English
Facilitator: US based sculptor Erin McGuiness will share her research and impressions of the Neolithic Old European culture from her residency in Malta visiting archeology sites, temples and museums that house material culture objects and share simple clay techniques to replicate objects from Malta’s archeology sites.