Oakville, Ontario based Ingrid Nicolai has worked for many years in a sculptural vein within the ceramic vessel tradition. Nicolai's primary interest has been the confusion she builds into her forms, one that tricks the eye into believing one is viewing a fully dimensional vessel when in reality she has fore-shortened the structure and the object is actually flatter than it first appears. It is only when one is able to see the side-view that you realize that the eye has been pleasantly fooled. Consistently working with ceramic stains, yellows, blues and reds, she has chosen these colours to emphasize the illusionary aspects of her pieces and places the pieces into a contemporary context with reference to the Mediterranean Sea and the geographic source of her pottery forms.
Last summer Nicolai was the feature artist for the courtyard at the Burlington Art Centre with an installation that was inspired by her interest in Egyptian vessels and hieroglyphs from antiquity. This exhibition at Prime Gallery continues with and amplifies the Egyptian theme. Cool blues predominate offering us respite from the heat of Toronto in much the way gardens of Egypt worked for that culture.

"The pure forms of vessels from antiquity and recently also the decorative motifs of ancient Egyptian art are the source of my inspiration.  The colours are chosen specifically to emphasize the illusionary aspects of my work but also to place the pieces into a contemporary context with reference to the Mediterranean Sea."

Ingrid Nicolai
March 30, 2001.