Debra Sloan's ceramic exhibition Les Grandes Dames depicts feminine singularity at the CCBC Gallery to July 25
Collection presented by the Craft Council of BC draws inspiration from court-lady tomb figures made during the Tang Dynasty in China
A view of Debra Sloan’s exhibition Les Grandes Dames on display at the CCBC Gallery.
Craft Council of BC presents Debra Sloan’s Les Grandes Dames at the CCBC Gallery on Granville Island until July 25; an artist talk takes place on July 18 at 7 pm in Studio A at Carousel Theatre for Young People
CERAMIC ARTIST DEBRA SLOAN first became enticed by the craft of pottery in Grade three, when her class was shown the NFB’s 1953 short film “The Story of Peter and the Potter”. Watching New Brunswick studio-pottery pioneers Erica and Kjeld Deichmann throwing clay and firing finished pots, she came to the conclusion that life as a ceramicist was incredibly compelling.
Debra Sloan.
Self-taught for the first part of her career, Sloan later attended Emily Carr University of Art + Design to further her training. She has decades of experience and residencies under her belt, both internationally in Hungary, Italy, the U.K., and Japan, and locally at the UBC Museum of Anthropology. Sloan has also been president of the North-West Ceramics Foundation since 2018, and was awarded the Craft Council of BC’s Hilde Gerson Award in 2015 for her excellence and leadership in the local craft community.
Her works are currently on display at the CCBC Gallery on Granville Island, in a solo exhibition called Les Grandes Dames that highlights feminine figures as distinct entities. Through ceramic forms spanning Spikes (pictured below), a girlish figure with punky liberty-spike hair made from nails, and Tender Hooks, a dishevelled-looking mother cradling a newborn baby, Sloan examines the rights and personhood of women by reinventing them in all their forms.
Many of her charming figures draw inspiration from the vast collection of terracotta court-lady tomb figures made during the Tang Dynasty in China from 618 to 907 AD, several of which depict an unusual period of expressive freedom experienced by well-off women during the time. Of note in Sloan’s figures are the unique hairstyles sported by each woman.
Debra Sloan’s Yellow Zoom, 45 cm, earthenware and soldering wire.
Detail shot of Debra Sloan’s Spikes, 40 cm, earthenware and nails.
During an artist talk on July 18 at 7 pm, Sloan will be discussing the female focus behind Les Grandes Dames, as well as touching upon the importance of placing greater value and appreciation on material arts in B.C. The talk will be held at Carousel Theatre for Young People, which is just a couple minutes’ walk from the CCBC Gallery on Cartwright Street.
Many of the pieces shown in Les Grandes Dames, including the vivid canary-yellow earthenware figure Yellow Zoom (pictured above) with soldering-wire hair, are available for purchase online through the Craft Council of BC. They will be available for pickup or shipping once the exhibition ends on July 25.
Later this month at the CCBC Gallery, Sloan will return to showcase her creations in DANCE:CRAFT, an innovative virtual-reality viewing and exhibition. Choreographed by Joe Laughlin of Joe Ink, the work captured by VR filmmaker and cinematographer Claire Sanford uses dance to highlight the transformative nature of craft materiality.
White ceramic masks by Debra Sloan featured in DANCE:CRAFT. Photo by Michael Slobodian
Five different craft elements and artists are featured in the film: glass by Hope Forstenzer, metal by Stefanie Dueck, wood by Patrick Christie, fibre by Deborah Dumka, and ceramics by Sloan (keep an eye out for a beautifully gnarled tree and eerie white masks, shown above). The collaborative work will also feature movement from dancers Heather Dotto and Joey Matt.
As reported by Stir, DANCE:CRAFT first premiered in 2022 at the SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. It will be shown this year on July 27 and 28, and visitors can drop in anytime between 12 pm and 4 pm.
A ticketed panel discussion featuring all of the artists will take place directly after the viewing period until 5:30 pm. 
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