The Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics presents EKWC@Princessehof: Keeley Haftner - Carbon Copies from 29 April to 29 October 2023. Haftner (Canada, 1985) has developed a body of work that explores sustainability, specifically our ecological footprint. The nine sculptures in the Princessehof are made from discarded artworks by Frances Whitehead. By pulverising them and using the debris as the basis for her new work, Haftner created new artworks with the recycled material. Carbon Copies consists of a series of ceramic works and a large drawing that reflects upon the CO2 emissions released in the transport and manufacturing process. The Netherlands-based artist created the work during a residency at European Ceramic Work Centre (EKWC) in 2021.
.jpg?width=600&height=763&mode=crop&converttowebp=1 "Credits: Ad van Lieshout")
.jpg?width=600&height=763&mode=crop&converttowebp=1 "Credits: Ad van Lieshout")
For Haftner, waste is both a source material and a main subject. In her series Sculpture from Other Sculptors’ Sculptures, which includes the Carbon Copies in this exhibition, Haftner transforms other artists’ discarded objects into new works. With Carbon Copies (Frances Whitehead), she gave two discarded sculptures by American artist Frances Whitehead a second life.
Over a period of almost 20 years, Whitehead’s sculptures – two toilet bowls – went on a trans-Atlantic and cross-continental journey of 40,075 kilometres between the Netherlands and North America. Their recent transformation involved pulverisation, 3D printing and firing to create Carbon Copies. Haftner then captured and sealed her own breath inside the 3D-printed works as a symbolic compensation for the CO2 emitted during the transport and production of the works.
EKWC@Princessehof: Keeley Haftner – Carbon Copies is a prelude to a series of exhibition on sustainability at the Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics. Over the next few years, Dr. Wendy Gers, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Ceramics, will engage with different aspects of sustainability. The first in this series of thematic exhibitions opens in November 2023.
Keeley Haftner
Keeley Haftner (Canada, 1985) is a Canadian artist living in the Netherlands. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2016. Her work has been exhibited in Canada, the USA, Korea, Germany and the Netherlands. In 2020, Haftner was a finalist for the prestigious Winifred Shantz Award for Ceramics.
This exhibition is made possible by the Mondriaan Fund.
Partners of the Princessehof: Ottema-Kingma Foundation, Society of Friends of the Princessehof and Club Céramique.
The Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics is co-funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Municipality of Leeuwarden.