Joseph Sivilli explores matter and its impermanence in the physical universe through the creation of objects of supposed permanence constructed primarily through a process of his own creation that allows him to fire plant matter that he intentionally sprouts in clay.  Sivilli chooses clay for its perceived association with earth and the link that humans and other organisms have with this basest, yet most central, substance of the material experience.  When he fires his objects, the sprouted plant matter is eerily and delicately frozen in time, and induces observers to encounter and accept the transience and fragility of matter and thus also consider the relatively short experience of biological life.

 

Sivilli uses classical East Asian vessel forms as the basis for many of his pieces – forms that he refined through residencies in Korea and Japan.  These forms also play on the concept of the transience of matter through allusion to museum collections where these types of vessels are exhibited to represent immutable examples of the artistic and technological expertise of distant eras.  Through the combination of these vessel forms and fired plant matter, his work again directs the viewer to contemplate the irony that though esteemed vessels are displayed and archived in protected environments, no matter the measures employed, they are still going through an inevitable process of delayed decay.

2008-2013 National Academy of Arts, Oslo, Norway
2008-2011 BA studies in Visual Arts, ceramics emphasis
2011-2013 MA studies in Visual Arts, ceramics emphasis

2011-2012
Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts, Kraków, Poland
studies connected to the Department of Sculpture

2007-2008
University of Oslo, Norway
Nordic Linguistics major, aborted upon acceptance to above

2006-2007
University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA
Studies in Linguistics and Ceramic Art, aborted upon acceptance to above

2017-19 Yun Gee Park Gallery, Tucson, Arizona, USA (multiple exhibitions and installations)
2017 Beehive Kiln, Medalta in the Historic Clay District, Medicine Hat, AB, Canada
2016 Tiny Town Gallery, Tucson, Arizona, USA
2015 Apple House, Guldagergaard Ceramic Research Centre, Skælskør, Denmark
​2015 Gyeonggi Biennale (finalist), Seoul, South Korea
2015 Gallery Jungdabang Project, Seoul, South Korea
2014 Clayarch Gimhae Museum, Cubic House, Jillye, South Korea
2014 European Ceramic Context, Bornholm, Denmark
2014 陶芸の森 Shigaraki Ceramic Culture Park, Shiga, Japan
2013 Galleri Seilduken – MA show, Oslo, Norway
2013 Dom Matejki, Śnieżne Kotły, Poland
2013 Stary Młyn, Zabierzów, Poland
2012 Planty, Kraków, Poland (performance)
2012 Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Art, Kraków, Poland
2011 Galleri Seilduken, Oslo, Norway
2011 National Cathedral in Oslo, Norway
2010 Akershus Kunstforening, Lillestrøm, Norway
2009 Galleri NB8, Oslo, Norway – solo exhibition
2008 Porsgrunn Porcelain Biennale, Porsgrunn, Norway

2017 Resident Artist at Medalta, Medicine Hat, AB, Canada
2015 Resident Artist through Project Network, Guldagergaard, Skælskør, Denmark
2014 Resident Artist at Clayarch Gimhae Museum, Jillye, Korea
2014 Resident Artist at 陶芸の森 , Shigaraki Ceramic Culture Park in Shigaraki, Japan
2012 Śnieżne Kotły, Poland

2013 Norwegian Association for The Arts and Crafts’ Student Prize – Best in Show