Short Description
What Holds explores the enduring allure of the ceramic box and lidded form—not merely as utilitarian objects, but as vessels of meaning, ritual, and artistic expression. Across cultures and centuries, the act of containment has carried profound significance: from the practical need to store and protect, to the symbolic safeguarding of memory, identity, secrecy, and spirit.
In contemporary ceramics, this form continues to provoke: precise and imperfect, functional and symbolic, concealed and revealed. What Holds invites viewers into the tension between interior and exterior, between the known and the hidden. The lid, in this context, is more than a closure—it is a threshold. It shapes perception, interaction, and expectation.
Artists featured in this exhibition engage with the lidded form through a range of approaches:
- Some lean into the discipline of function—crafting impeccably fitted lids, refined forms, and surface treatments that speak to tradition and utility.
- Others subvert those expectations—allowing irregularity, gesture, or abstraction to interrupt the notion of control or containment altogether.
At its heart, this exhibition asks:
What does it mean to hold, to protect, to conceal, or to release?
Exhibition Proposal:
What Holds: — Ceramic Boxes and the Language of Containment
Eligibility
- Open to: Ceramic artists at all career stages
- Works submitted: 1 or 2 works per artist
- Works must be:
- Ceramic or ceramic-dominant in material
- Created within the last 3 years
- Lidded, box-like, or conceptually exploring the theme of containment
Submission Requirements
- Artist statement (max 200 words)
- Artist bio (100–150 words)
- Current CV (PDF format preferred)
- Work Sample
How to Apply
Please send all information to info@vesselsandsticks.com.
Program Benefits & Awards
- Inclusion in the in-gallery and online exhibition
- Works presented alongside a roster of established, invited artists
- Professional documentation and promotional exposure
- All works will be available for sale through Vessels + Sticks (commission split to be shared upon acceptance)
- Artists will be credited across all media and marketing platforms
- Opportunities for future collaborations and features through the gallery
Entry Fee
None
Location
Toronto, Canada
Timeline
- Application Deadline: 10 August 2025
Website Link: https://vesselsandsticks.com/pages/what-holds-ceramic-boxes-and-the-language-of-containment
