Alexandra Engelfriet

La Fonderie, 2011 (Carouge, Switserland)

La Fonderie, 2011 (Carouge, Switserland) In les Halles de la Fonderie, the huge industrial space of on old foundry, I worked for a week with 10 tons of clay from the brick factory Bardonnex SA. This project was part of the exhibition CERAMICS NOW!, itself part of the 12e Parcours Céramique Carougeois in Switserland.

Raw Material, 2011 (Ringebu, Norway)

A project organized by Torbjørn Kvasbø in Ringebu, Norway, in June 2011. Four artists: Torbjørn Kvasbø, Neil Brownsword, Katrine Køster Holst and I worked together during a week with 30 tons of clay from a brick factory, pressed in hard blocks, in a small, rough industrial space of which the floor was covered with a thick layer of black sand used for sandblasting, and with the help of a bobcat. Marlou van den Berge made a film of this collaboration, full of surprising moments emerging out of the process. See under Film

Reclaim, 2011 (Hobart, Tasmania, Australia)

In the courtyard of the old Jam Factory in which the Tasmanian School of the Arts in Hobart is housed, I worked during a week with a field of yellow clay, straight form the quarry and feet wedged by the students of the sculpture department. A film has been made by Glen Dunn. The project was an initiative of Creative Arts - Tasmanian Polytechnic, supported by the School of Art - University of Tasmania and sponsored by the Pathways Project. See also under Film

Dust to Dust, 2011 (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Clay is the material from which everything arises and into which everything returns. With 7 tons of earthy clay straight from the Kleine Gelderse Waard, the last river wash-land in the Netherlands that wasn’t flooded at that time, I realized a sculpture/installation/film project in the space of Punt WG in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in collaboration with filmmaker Marlou van den Berge. The film closely follows the process of the wetting and kneading of the clay to make it workable and the development of the work in the space. The tendency of the sloppy material to fall apart and the fabric needed to keep it together, became the leading elements in the process. Helena Goldwater: “The film follows the actions and repetitions with the clay that are simple in their execution, but there is a complexity in the potentiality of meaning. The corporeal and visceral come through and lead towards an intimate work but also devastating in terms of life and death; horror on personal and wider scales.” See also under Film

Trenchkiln, 2010 (St. Martin de Salencey, France)

In 2010 I build a trenchkiln for woodfiring at my farmhouse in St Martin-de-Salencey in France.

Marl Hole, 2009 (Stoke on Trent, England)

A raw clay project organized by Neil Brownsword as part of the first British Ceramic Biennial in Stoke-on-Trent, England. During 5 days Neil Brownsword, Torbjørn Kvasbø, Pekka Paikkari and I explored the material of clay in its rawest state, at the location where it is dug out of the ground: Europe’s biggest clay-quarry (marl hole), Ibstock Brick’s Gorsty Quarry in Knutton, Stoke on Trent. The film by Johnny Magee documenting the process was shown at the Airspace Gallery in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, during the British Ceramic Biennial festival. Ibstock’s workmen and their diggers made it possible to cope with the huge scale of the quarry. In this project physical interaction with the clay and mechanization came together. The film by Johnny Magee follows the work processes of all four artists. See also under Film .

Performance in the Airspace Gallery, 2009 (Stoke on Trent, England)

During the opening weekend of the British Ceramic Biennial in Stoke-on-Trent, I worked for two hours in a clay floor, as a performance, in the gallery where the Marl Hole film was shown. The remaining piece became part of the exhibition. Stacey Booth: "Alexandra Engelfriet created a performance which involved manipulating the clay with only her body and the aid of water to wet the clay. This was very intense as she recreated the techniques used in the Marl Hole film. To be confronted with what you had viewed on a screen and to see how the material reacted in the flesh certainly put things into perspective. Even though the area of the clay which she was manipulating was on a minute scale compared to the quarry, you realise just how exhausting working with such a material in this way is. As the clay become wet and sticky, Alexandra had to fight with the material to free herself ready for her next move. As the performance progressed you could see the fatigue consuming her as well as the material covering more and more of her body resulting in an epic struggle; again symbolising with the pottery industry and the struggles which it faced in its later years being consumed by capitalism and eventually being exported abroad to allow greater profits."

Nederlandsche Bank, 2001 (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)

As part of the exhibition Onroerend Goed/Real Estate I made a raw clay sculpture with one ton of clay on a high wall.

Silt in Gallery de Boer-Waalkens, 2000 (Finsterwolde, the Netherlands)

The silt of the flats of the Dollard was brought inside and poured down the wall of Gallery de Boer-Waalkens in Finsterwolde.

Tracks in the Flats, 1998-2003 (Ameland and the Dollard, the Netherlands)

As part of 'Kunstmaand Ameland 1998' I worked for 6 weeks in the flats of the Waddenzee, the inner sea of the Netherlands. In the 6 hours that the tide was out I made vast sculptures, which, when the tide turned, were swallowed up by the sea. To work in the hard sand off Ameland, a spade and dogged labour were required. In the Dollard, near Groningen, where I spent 2 months as an artist-in-residence at Gallery de Boer-Waalkens during the summer of 2000, the seabed consists of soft silt in which I eventually immersed my whole body to shape the material. During the next 2 years I returned regularly with filmmaker Carrie de Swaan for the making of 'Tracks in the Flats'. See also under Film.

Flowing Sand, 1998 (Zaanstad, the Netherlands)

At the invitation of Art Center Zaanstad I worked for a month in Monumento Urbano, a building by Aldo Rossi in Zaandstad. By moving a heap of sand along the walls I explored its shape and boundaries. The passage of sand was marked by splashing mud against the lines it created with the wall.

Via Cava, 1998 (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)

Two huge concrete spaces on the top floor of one of the old warehouses in the harbor of Amsterdam called Pakhuis Afrika, 20 tons of clay, 60 bales of straw and 6 months of hard labour during the winter of 1997/98. Exploring the vast empty space by walking, meandering lines asserted themselves. Building on these lines layer upon layer of thick slip mixed with straw, these lines grew into walls.

Skin off the Earth, 1996 (Eindhoven, the Netherlands)

This project was done in the exhibition space of the faculty of architecture of the Technical University Eindhoven. The skin made of wool soaked in a mixture of earth and glue, was formed on the sand, then 'peeled' off and hung on the six meter high wall.

Sand II, 1994/1995 (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)

For two years I investigated the relationship between matter, space, light and movement by working with an increasing amount of sand in a basement in the center of Amsterdam.

Sand I, 1994/95 (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)

For two years I investigated the relationship between matter, space, light and movement by working with an increasing amount of sand in a basement in the center of Amsterdam.

Clay, 1991 (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)

For a year I worked with 5 tons of raw clay in a basement in the center of Amsterdam. It was the beginning of my investigation into the experience of working with clay and other earthly matter.