Joya: AiR / Carl Anderson / GBR
photo Simon Beckmann
“When I first arrived at Joya: AIR I was taken aback by the sheer remoteness and silence of the ancient landscape. I can’t recall a time where I’ve felt so disconnected from society, so it felt great to wander around the mountains, collecting fossils as I went along, and this sense of discovery and being able to map the environment kickstarted my work.
I began meandering through the gullies (‘las barrancas’) to source my own clay and the act of walking through these passages that had been carved out from the landscape felt like I was passing through time itself. I have occasionally thought about making work out of local clay but learning how to process it from the ground seemed intimidating, so I’ve never actually tried it. I devoted my time to digging down into the rocky floor and the experience of doing this by hand felt primitive, but it connected me to my surroundings, and I felt compelled to build sculptures in and around the barrancas. By doing this I felt a deeper connection the work I was making and working outside the context of a studio gave me a fresh perspective to my work. Joya: AIR is a wonderful and transformative adventure in a truly unique setting. Thank you to Simon and Donna for hosting such an amazing place for artists to work”.
Carl Anderson
Carl Anderson is a London-based artist working predominately in ceramics. By considering Paganism, Folklore and early Mythology, he creates a visual language that is archetypical of hazard and cautionary tale. Certain motifs often appear in his works: chains, dagger-like protrusions and brick cladding. These derive from an interest in how we perceive authority in social structures and how the objects themselves have the potential to become gestural forms of dominance and power.
Carl attended the Architectural Association to study Architecture between 2009 and 2010 but left to pursue his interest in art. Architecture is still a big influence of his but his interests lie in materiality and form, as opposed to creating functional living spaces using computer-aided design. In place of this he decided to do a Foundation Diploma in Fine Art in 2012 at the Greater Brighton Metropolitan College. He undertook this course as a pathway to explore as many mediums as possible and it's here where he solidified his passion for sculpture.