The Body Has Reasons Which Reason Knows Not Of

Andrea Piller, Aneela Dias-D'Sousa, Annika Hoefs, Bernadette Pratt, Catherine Jones, Gracia Isabel Gómez Cantoya, Heidi McKenzie, Lesley McInally, Lisa Walter, Mary McKenzie, Mimi Kokai, Susan Low-Beer

April 11 - May 12, 2019

Craft Ontario Gallery, 1106 Queen Street West, Toronto 

'The Body Has Reasons Which Reason Knows Not Of' is a survey of Ontario ceramics created during the Muscle Memory International Ceramic Symposium.

Working with clay actively engages the body. The artists in this exhibition trust that their lived experiences, stories, and skills are indwelled in the muscles used to make their work.

Each of the artists in this exhibition took part in the Muscle Memory International Ceramic Symposium, which was programmed and founded by Mimi Kokai in collaboration with the International Ceramic Studio (ICS) in Kecskemet, Hungary and took place in both 2017 and 2018.

Experiences of injury and recuperation informed the theme to the Muscle Memory symposium. One of the purposes of the residency is to demonstrate the power and the skill of artists with disabilities.

During each of the residencies the artists became a strongly knit community. Many of the artists have noted the mentorship, and guidance they received from their fellow participants. It is remarkable to imagine the strength and trust that was built and cultivated not just within their own bodies as they worked with clay, but also with each other.

All of the works explore various themes surrounding tacit knowledge, and the body’s ability to bounce back, grow, resist, and remember.

The title of this exhibition was inspired by the title of Mari Sorri’s seminal article "The Body Has Reasons: Tacit Knowing in Thinking and Making", which was inspired by Blaise Pascal who wrote “the heart has reasons which reason knows not of.”