To celebrate their 30th Anniversary, this year, the Gardiner Museum invited a British artist by the name of Clare Twomey to create a new installation that somewhat reflects some of the museum's vast collection. of ceramics.
The artist was intrigued with George and Helen Gardiner's private collection of Commedia dell'arte porcelain figurines; and so started to work on moulds of Harlequin, Leda and Scaramouch.
From these moulds, Clare and a team of five women hand-made two hundred and forty objects.
They then kiln fired them and the result was 2,000 figurines ready for shipment to Toronto.
Thus, "Piece by Piece" was created.
My friend Marcia and I visited the museum, expressly to see this exhibit, not realizing that it was going to close the next day.
I was able to score a free pass for us both through the Toronto Public Library's "MAP" (Museum and Arts Pass).
We like Free!
The artist laid out the figurines that were made in England and then proceeded to make more during the exhibit. She calls this a perforamative installation.
Here is a picture that I took:
They seem frozen in place, like little white ghosts on the museum floor.
