The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 49 No 3 November 2010

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Fo cus; Architectural Ceramics Invasive Species Altair Roelants reports on the Clay-Slip Wallpapers of Charlie Schneider American installation artist Charlie Schneider's recent projects in New South Wales, draw attention to man 's 'patterning' of the world by transforming overlooked and forgotten structures through striking, large scale clay slip stencilled 'wallpapers' that illuminate invasive species, both animal and plant, in Australia . The artist's vast ephemeral murals depict common pests such as rabbits and cane toads through a variety of bold motifs cast in hues of scorched red, green, warm greys and off-whites. Schneider's practice functions on multiple levels, representing both the challenges invasive species pose, as a metaphor for man's widespread impact on the world's environment, and our desire to exert geographic and spatial control over nature and landscape rather than finding a balance and sense of belonging within them. Schneider's projects in Australia resonate in a country that often aligns its national identity and, in turn, visual culture, with the scale and severity of its landscape and history of colonisation. Heralding from Davis, a small town in the Californian Central Valley, Schneider's invasive species series has developed from the artist's broader interest in man 's relationship and integration into landscape and place. While working in ceramics in the United States, Schneider initiated his clay slip wallpaper project in April 2009, during a period in which he had began to think about the conceptual gravity of street art, an area that the artist has strong but mixed feelings about. Schneider felt impassive about the territorial bravado contemporary street art is often fuelled by; rather he wanted to extract the historic and symbolic potential the medium offers to make bold, site-specific visual statements about belonging and place. By incorporating ceramic materials and tools as a base for this process, Schneider was able to harness this urban aesthetic but with a natural and ephemeral twist, creating large-scale anonymous works without leaving any permanent damage on the structure or environment in which he worked. Subsequently, Schneider's clay slip mixture has become a fundamental conceptual element of his work. Because the artist never fixes the clay sl ip with a binder, the works undergo natural processes of decay, in sync with the surroundings they are responding to. Thus, the wallpaper eventually reintegrates into the place of making and its natural decomposition is an essential component of the work. This cyclic process reflects one of the artist's key concerns: that we need to find a synthesis and sense of belonging w ith landscape and nature. The choice of site is key, as Schneider often chooses to work on structures that represent environmental or geographic restra int and moderation - as he explains, " dams altering flow patterns, culverts showing where a road has gone over a stream, bridges spanning undulations in the landscape for more regular movement" 1 The absurdity of a wallpaper motif in a rural setting, or on the exterior of a building (traditionally associated with the domestic or interior space), communicates this observation visually with great effect, as the natural is superimposed over the man-made, a reversal of history and fortune. The process of research, documentation and logistics that precedes the finished wallpaper is a long and involved one, and just like the wallpaper's final decay, is an important part of the overall work. 22 THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2010
Focus: Architectural Ceram ics Charl ie Schneider. Cane Toad Rabbits on Glass (Bufa Marinus and Oryctolagus cuniC/us) , 2010, clay slip on glass, h.5m, w.2m, Faculty of Build Environment, UNSW, 5 -33.917901 E 151 .229451 Photo: artist THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2010 23
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Inside My Studio Szilvia Gyorgy in
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Ceramic Spaces Making Sense Ross Lo
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Arch ive: Pottery in Australia. Vo
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Welt Read Alan Peascod: Artist of E
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Well Read Iznik Pottery and Tiles i
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Australia Wide act By the time this
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Australia Wide Leo Nuehoffer and Ki
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Stockists ACT canberra potters soci
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CLAYWORKS CLAVWORKS POITERS SUPPLY
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Contents Volume 49#1 April 2010 S16
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PRO ••••• A special event
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Feeneys Clays WALKER ~ Clays Glazes
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The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 49 No 3 November 2010

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