Keeping art in balance
Rylie Perry, Arts Editor
There is a balance to all art and all forms of inspiration.
For Kristine Zingeler, a Calgary-born and based artist, balance can be found in ceramics, which challenges how shape and textiles can be applied to seemingly mundane objects, like wasp nests.
“Clay itself is a very good teacher . . . it’s this very easy act that you can push in whatever direction you want. It’s so forgiving, and it really teaches you to be flexible,” says Zingeler.
Partnered with the Esker Foundation, Zingeler’s site-specific installation, In The Balance, is a series of ceramic works that explore the simple complexities of wasp nests.
“Wasps are such an integral part of our planet, but they’re also such a hated part of our planet,” says Zingeler. “And when you see a wasp nest in the wild, it’s this big thing hanging off a little branch. It’s all these delicacies, but also strengths that kind of go together.”
Located in Inglewood, the project space is open from Oct. 27 to Feb. 22, with free admission year-round.
Founded in 2012, the Esker Foundation aims to make contemporary art accessible for everyone, creating opportunities for public dialogue and personal exploration.
“With the project space, it’s not something you can apply for,” says Zingeler. “So it was really exciting when they reached out to me. It was really cool and such a dream.”
Working tirelessly throughout the summer to complete the installation, Zingeler considers them to be a body of work, not just a collection of ceramics.
“Making these works, and especially after seeing them installed, it was very exciting to see them working as a group, and I think they’re stronger that way,” she says.
While her fascination began with the texture and intricacies of fossils, she soon found herself engrossed in studying wasps as a subject. Her interest ranges from specific species behaviours to general nest structures, which have all helped to inform her art.
“I feel like I am always really curious about something different all the time,” Zingeler says. “And I think being interested in all these shapes and textures and forms and colours seep into you a little bit.”
Zingeler’s ceramics are not just wasp nests, however, but a diverse range of forms that do not seek to imitate, but rather be inspired by unique formations.
“I think if you try and make something that is like a replica of what you see, you’re essentially creating a prop for a natural history museum. It’s not really art anymore,” she says.
Beyond her inspiration, a commonality in her work is the importance of these forms’ ability to hold something. Zingeler has continued to ask herself why she keeps creating vessels, and what beautiful metaphors may be hiding within this fixation.
“There is this saying that I love, called a pregnant emptiness,” she says. “Before the Big Bang, there was nothing, but how do you have everything come out of nothing, right? So it’s this pregnant emptiness that holds the entire cosmos inside. It’s so powerful.”
From these notions comes the balance that Zingeler’s project space hinges on.
“There’s no way to escape this, like, mother-artist kind of role. And I think that takes a lot of balance as well,” she says.
Zingeler finds beauty in the balance that comes with being a mother, an artist, and an individual, accepting that her practice wouldn’t be what it is today without the duelling demands of life.
A piece from Kristine Zingeler’s exhibit, In the Balance. Photo courtesy of the Esker Foundation
“My kids inspire me all the time with what they find and what they think is beautiful and what they’re interested in,” she says.
Zingeler’s work with and beyond the Esker Foundation has contributed meaningfully to the Calgary art scene, keeping a difficult yet delicate practice alive.
She challenges what it means to be an artist and how little pieces of inspiration can shape an entire community.
“The art scene in Calgary is so supportive. It’s small enough that everyone knows each other, but there is amazing art and galleries here that inspire me,” she says.
