Phil HARALAM | Starter/Démarrage

16cm X 8cm X 16cm
900g
Red and black stoneware, glaze / grès rouge et noire
Made at A.I.R. Vallauris, France | Créée à A.I.R. Vallauris, France
By | par Phil Haralam

Phil is an American artist working in North Carolina. He received his BFA from Guilford College, completed his MFA at Indiana University and is currently Lead Instructor of Art at Rockingham Community College. He is in Vallauris to make sculptures inspired by his experiences during the residency and to set the foundation for many more works upon his return home. Phil’s sculptures are expressions of beauty, positivity, and reflections on the tenacity of the human spirit.

Phil Harlam: "My time at A.I.R. Vallauris is focused on furthering my understanding of human nature by better understanding the challenges and triumph of the people I meet. As I have travel the world I am struck by the subtle differences between cultures and countries, but I am heartened by fundamental similarities that unite us. My sculptures use symbols like apples, succulents, and architecture to illustrate the tenacity of the human spirit and our ability to thrive in adverse situations. Apples represent knowledge, understanding and our unconscious true self. Succulents are robust plants with thick skin and prickly thorns and they don't need much in regards to soil quality or water intake to survive and thrive. The architectural, hard-edged forms, reference the challenging realities of life.Relationships, politics, religion and economics are things that can threaten our metaphoric garden, but more times than not, the human spirit pulls through..."