Friedman and the clay of humanity
JOBURG - Owner of a successful cafe and catering company, Mandi Friedman is a woman of many talents; something that will become more apparent with her first solo art exhibition.
My Humanity will offer viewers Friedman’s explorations of her own humanity and of people in general through the medium of clay sculptures.
Despite her excitement about the upcoming exhibition, Friedman expressed some trepidation about it.
“It feels a little pretentious putting myself out there like this. I don’t consider myself an artist and have had little formal training. I keep asking myself if my work is good enough to show other people,” she said, with a wry smile and a twinkle in her eye.
Friedman credited her father for her life-long love of colour and beauty.
“My father was a huge fan of Spanish porcelain figures called Lladro,” she said. “He bought me my first Lladro piece. He instilled a love of beauty in me. I’ve loved pottery, ceramics and porcelain since then, and I’ve always wanted to sculpt.”
In a quest to bring her desire to fruition, Friedman began pottery classes with Anne Rimbault two years ago.
“The classes are wonderful, because everyone does their own thing,” she said.
“When I hold a piece of clay in my hands, I don’t know what I’m going to do with it. I can spend anywhere between five and 15 minutes playing with it, before I know what it must become.”
Friedman said her works were either “incredibly detailed or not at all”.
Of the 30 pieces to be exhibited, only one was of a non-human subject – a hippopotamus in a tutu.
“Apart from my dancing hippo, Priscilla Queen of the Platform, the theme is people. I suppose it’s the way I see people, or perhaps how I think people should be. None of the works are perfectly finished, because no two people are the same, and none of us are perfect. We all have our rough edges,” she said.
My Humanity will be at Yiull, 56 Buckingham Avenue, Craighall Park, from 23 February until 1 March.
The exhibition will open at 2.30pm, and guests will be treated to snacks and drinks, and a live musical performance.
Details: 011 782 5063; lollipops@telkomsa.net
