View Magazine
August 11th to 18th, 2005

Magical Mundane
by Laura Hollick

Have you ever thought to yourself, “Is this what my life is supposed to be about?” Usually during some mundane task, your mind wonders through entire forests of questions and concerns about how your life is unfolding.  With the big question ready to pounce at any moment, “Am I fulfilling my destiny?”  Then you may look around and wonder if your destiny went down the drain with your pee, because this sure doesn’t look like the life you imagined when you were a kid!
    
As children our imaginations soar, every act is an artistic expression.  As we grow up we loose that sense of aliveness when we put our natural instincts on the back burner in order to get a job that doesn’t really connect with us, or when we try to fit the mold of society for the sake of convenience, or when we base our sense of self on the opinions of others.  Then one day the suspicious memory of our innate uniqueness surfaces like cream in a coffee cup, forcing us to rethink our approach to life.  
    
Artist, Steve Mazza is currently showing a collection of his ceramic sculptures at Transit Gallery, that explore this idea, he says, “They are about the nagging suspicion that we were once capable of doing more and somehow tricked into accepting less.” 
   
Mazza creates quarter life-size figures that are half human/ half rabbit.  These subverted creatures are going about daily mundane tasks such as ‘Sitting’, ‘Sneezing’, and ‘Pissing’, these are also titles of the works. “These figures are really doing what happens between important things, rather than the more exciting or depressing events that we traditionally define our day by,” he says.
   
There is an odd juxtaposition happening as he puts a wild animal in a suit. “The fact that the rabbit is wearing anything is significant in itself.  It echoes of the fall from grace,” Mazza says.
    
The exhibition is entitled ‘Out of Character’ which is fitting as it suggests that falling from grace, is falling out of character.  Being anything other than your true nature is out of character.  During the mundane tasks, these creatures appear half asleep from the numbness of their own disconnection, with the lurking hope of awakening.
     
An interesting question to consider, why would an artist be creating sculptural creatures that are caught in the struggle of being their true nature or succumbing to the mold of society?  Our typical perception is that artists already live their uniqueness, so why would this be a struggle for someone already doing it?
     
Mazza admits, “On a biographical level it also relates to the personal conflict of having to have a job to support my passion, but the very job that supports my passion keeps me from it.” He continues to say, “The scary part is that a lot of people forget why they took the job in the first place and give up their passion.”
      
These pieces have a strong conceptual component, they are asking us to honestly look at how we are living our lives, and notice what we are settling for instead of what we could be striving for.  Intellectually, they give us lots to ponder, emotionally they provide many feelings to play with as our imaginations can be convinced that a half man/ half rabbit is actually real.
    
They are equally intriguing from a technical point of view.  These clay pieces are hand painted rather than glazed, which is the traditional method of adding colour to ceramic surfaces. “It is a similar process (painting directly on the clay) to how I first learned the material as a child in Sunday Clay classes at the Dundas Valley School of Art.” Mazza elaborates by saying, “I like the idea of the process being tied to my childhood as that works on a thematic level as well.
    
”Returning to those childhood roots where imagination reigns, and returning to the Garden of Eden where true nature is normal.  This is the secret call that harbours within all of us.  Aren’t we all waiting to some degree to awaken to who we really are, and be what we are really capable of being.  “Most of the settings that the rabbits are in are domestic in nature.  As if the workday has not yet begun, much like the story hasn’t been written, “the artist says.  This is a call to wake up and write your own story, how would you like your day to unfold?  Let the mundane moments become magical awakenings to your true self.