Humanity in clay

“I still can’t believe it happened. It has been an amazing journey that happened in spite of me,” said the artist.

Friedman’s body of work is an exploration of her own humanity, and of people in general, through the medium of paper clay.

“The theme is ‘people’. I suppose it’s the way I see people, or perhaps how I think people should be,” she said.

“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.”

Friedman credited her father for her love of beauty and said she finally took steps to realise her dream to sculpt when she joined Anne Rimbault’s pottery classes two years ago.

Rimbault, who attended the exhibition opening, praised her student.

“I am so proud of her. Her work is so beautiful and so expressive, and it really all came together in a cohesive statement,” she said.

Rimbault said Friedman’s development as an artist surprised her.

“I had seen her work on the individual pieces in the studio, and I know how hard she worked on them. When Friedman joined the classes, she had a vision, and she did it piece by piece. It was fantastic to see.”

Friedman was visibly delighted with the response to her exhibition, but said she didn’t know what the future would hold for her.

“This has been awesome, and I’m amazed that I’ve already sold several of the pieces. Where to from here? I don’t know. I’m at a loss for words right now,” she said.

My Humanity will be at Yiull, 56 Buckingham Avenue, Craighall Park, until 1 March.

Details: 011 782 5063011 782 5063; lollipops@telkomsa.net