Elysia Vandenbussche

Do I hold the object or does the object hold me?

Ceramics is a way for me to investigate how one relates to their body, observe limitations and extensions in space, and look at the way we are looking through the architecture of absence – to delicately point the eyes inward to see the center but not occupy it. I negotiate with diverse materials to re-examine language, challenge presuppositions, and discover unexpected connections.

ELYSIA (b.1987) received her BFA from College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI (2011). Upon graduating, she established a private studio in Detroit and continued a full time practice with a focus in Ceramics. Elysia was a resident artist at Red Bull House of Art (2012) and has three permanent ceramic art installations at Whole Foods Detroit, Trumbull + Porter Hotel, and DMC Children’s Hospital. Her work has been published (Grazia, France 2014, Detroit ResearchVol3, 2019) and exhibited in numerous group shows, such as N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art in Detroit, MI and a solo exhibition at Playground Detroit Gallery (2018). Elysia is also active in filmmaking and co-owns a production company. Summer 2019 was her Director debut of a short documentary film which was included in the 2019 Detroit Freep Film Festival (the only woman director in this category at Freep) and the Cinetopia Film Festival. Elysia is a multidisciplinary ceramic artist with a diverse body of work and has also served a range private clients and public clients, such as Shinola, Inscape NYC, and Design Within Reach. Elysia received her MFA in Ceramics at Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2021.

Cube chair made out of clear material filled with white fiber, ceramic balls, and silver foil.

Vitrine Chair, 2021. Installation view.

Rear view in darkened room of a ube chair made out of clear material filled with white fiber, ceramic balls, and silver foil.

Vitrine Chair, 2021. Installation view.

Memory Of A Chair, 2019. Porcelain, glaze, raw minerals. 90” x 1” x 1”, dimensions variable.

One Day As I Stood Before A Mirror Combing My Hair, 2019. Porcelain, glaze, raw minerals, water, rope, ink jet photo, paper, thread, metal pedestal, nails, wood, glass, decal, mirror. 80” x 40”, dimensions variable.

Out Of Frame, 2020. Porcelain, Glaze, Nails, Wire, Fishing. 21”x19”x1”, dimensions variable

What If The Pedestal Could Breathe?, 2020. Grass, porcelain, glaze, rubber tube. 28”x19”x48”, dimensions variable

Floating Vitrine, 2020. Fabric, PVC, porcelain, wood, pillow. 180”x120”x130”, dimensions variable

A Map Leading (Now)here Porcelain, glaze, 22k gold luster, paper clay, stoneware, pearls, mud dyed cloth, salt, cardboard, glass, plaster, vellum paper, fishing line, wire, pencil, cement, underglaze, photograph, nails, sand, thread, turf grass, aluminum foil, plastic, lotion, slip, cloth, calcium carbonate mineral powder, gum, rubber band, leaves cut into squares, sponge, hair, dust, high temp wire, handmade paper, bubble wrap, moss. 72”x46”, dimensions variable

Ceramics

Ceramics graduates