Tane

Ceramic artist Sarah Link’s career spans five decades. Many of her installations, such as TANE, were created during international artist residencies. Her works demonstrate her ongoing interest in the conservation, preservation, and protection of the environment and its inhabitants.

In 2001, Link was selected to take part in a three-month long summer residency at the Shigaraki Cermiac Cultural Park in Japan’s Shiga Prefecture where she made TANE (meaning seed/source). This multicomponent ceramic installation was on display as part of the group exhibition LESSONS: The Artistry of Learning (ending March 3, 2019). It explores genetically modified produce, as well as, in Link’s words, “a sense of place.”

TANE is composed of over 60 pod forms (each measuring 73 cm long) made from black Shigaraki clay. This clay comes from one of Japan’s six ancient kiln sites and has been used for approximately 800 years to produce functional pottery. Link spent approximately 34 hours firing the pods, which were then shipped to Canada and exhibited at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery and the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery as part of the touring exhibition FARM (2001-2). The Thunder Bay Art Gallery acquired TANE in 2005; that same year, Link was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (RCA).

Sarah Link is a thoughtful, talented, and accomplished artist who has received numerous honours and awards. Her work is located in public collections internationally around the world, such as the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, the McMaster University Medical Center, the United States, and the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. She holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Masters Degree from Stanford University.

Originally published in The Walleye – FEB 2019

By Andrea Terry, Acting Curator, Thunder Bay Art Gallery