Saly Noémi (szerk.): Gorka Lívia keramikusművész (Budapest, 2010)
Kollin András: Bibliográfia
sgraffiato technique used in egg-painting (yázák és kaspók festett spirális mintával, "Vases and plant-pots with a painted, spiral pattern”, ca. 1950-1960 [Cat.: 14, 62]; Festett hamutálak, "Painted ashtrays", ca. 1950-1960; Rákos fali tál, "ШИ platter with crabs", ca. 1960 112]).19Those decorative works in which she applied a combination of white, green, red or yellow colours on a black background represent another type |Cat.: 58-61]. Her uniquely formed, hand-moulded, colourfully glazed clay pots (Kaktusztartó, "Cactus-holder" [Cat.: 13, 57]), again produced in great numbers, were also very popular, almost every household boasted one. In contrast, the high-quality glazing, surfaces, colourings and graphic decoration of her atypically formed vases, bowls, plant-pots and other works can be categorised as being part of the backbone of her life's work [Cat.: 66-70].20 She also made animal figures and wall pictures with geometric, abstract decorative elements, which seemed more like ancient, cultic objects (Legelész zebra, "Crazing Zebra", ca. 1960; Halplasztika, „Fish statuette”, ca. I960; Madárplasztika, „Bird statuette", ca. 1960 |Cat.: 71]). Her unique ceramic works, vases, platters and bowls, produced from 1958 until practically the end of the 1960's, were set apart by their distinctive forms, and with their exceptionally high quality decoration, which was in concordance with the general approach of modern abstract art. The decorative style of her ceramics represents the most modern artistic trends throughout the fifties, the sixties and the seventies. Her unorthodox glazes, the forms of which deliberately spurned symmetry, and which were the result of individual experimentation, created a new style not only it the plastic forming of objects, but also with their bold graphics and painted lines (Vázák, "Vases", |Cat.: 63-66]). She was always in search of newer and newer things, and could bear a very heavy workload, a trait that only improved as the years passed. The firm knowledge of materials, forms, glazes and technology made it possible for her to perform ceramic work - a subject that was split into three parts at college (glass/silicates, design and porcelain) - as if it were a single unit. She performed experiments, mixing the clay with other materials to reach the appointed goal with regard to hardness, colour, firing temperature and surface structure. New possibilities constantly made themselves apparent to her during the course of experimentation. We can feel, from both the forceful appearance of her work and the impulsive tone of her published writings, that the process of creation was at once passion and torment to her. She describes pottery as a "godly" craft, and working as a ceramic artist as "primarily a way of life”. She has defined her own place in the world of ceramic art through her constant work, her search for new techniques, her experimentation with materials, her knowledge and her talent. Despite her huge success she has always thought of herself as being separate, but not as an outsider. The Space-Time Axis The Era of Independence and Total Autonomy (after 1 960) "This is as far as I got, you go further'.” - this command and piece of fatherly advice was only truly spoken in 1960, when she moved to Budapest with her husband, Géza Focht and their son Géza.21 "The possibility and need to prove myself stood before me...Detachment gave me great strength." There followed new experiments, new studies and travels. She went in search of her own style, her individual mode of expression, and the material needed to achieve them. The waypoints along the road to her maturing into a fully-fledged artist were the opportunities to exhibit and the trips abroad. She develops into an artist who consciously builds on the space-time axis. The international recognition achieved on exhibitions abroad was also followed by invitations, and the commissions paid on work completed for Artex and the Képcsarnok Company also opened up the possibility for 38
