Magdolene Dykstra

Ceramics, York

Magdolene Dykstra is a Canadian ceramist living in York. She was seduced by clay while studying fine arts at Houghton College in New York State, USA. She began her career as a sculptor working in stone; however, she quickly shifted her attention to clay. She was captured by the immediate responsiveness of the medium and its fleshiness as it pushed back against her hands. After graduating with a Bachelors in Art, she continued to work with clay and study its roots and applications. She benefited from involvement with the local ceramic communities. As part of her study of ceramics, Magdolene spent three years exploring functional work. Although she continued to enjoy the medium, she did not find functional work emotionally or spiritually satisfying. In 2007, Magdolene returned to sculptural ceramics as an outlet for her thoughts.

'The world is jammed with pain, need, and callousness. Even though there are faint glimmers of light, my hope is very fragile. The more I learn, see, and experience, the more precarious it becomes. Karen Louise Fletcher referred to ‘the dilemma of the spirit incarnate’. Ann Lamott says that we are not humans in a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings in a human experience. My work shows snap shots of this conflicted existence. My characters show our hurt, our depravity, and our brokenness. This baggage weighs us down, and ages us beyond our years, shown in the figures’ tired features.

'My figures are enveloped so that only their expressive faces can be seen. This references the Ancient Egyptian tradition of preparing canopic jars as part of a lengthy preparation for the after-life. These trapped figures also refer to the concept of our spirits being ensnared in corrupted physical forms.'