Julia Weber
Staff Writer
A collection of works created by ceramic artist Yael Braha fills the Arnold and Jill Bellowe Family Gallery of Strohl Art Center in a new solo exhibition titled “Unbecoming.”
Curated by Susan and John Turben Director of CVA Galleries Judy Barie, “Unbecoming” is composed of new works Braha created during a six-month residency in Shigaraki, Japan. The exhibition opens with a reception from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday in Strohl and is on view through Aug. 19.
Barie and Braha first crossed paths at the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts in 2024. Since then, the two have stayed in touch, and when Braha told Barie she would be participating in the Shigaraki-based residency program, Barie suggested curating a show of the work Braha made during the upon her return to the United States.
“We talked several times long distance and worked together to get the work here in a timely fashion. Everything went smooth and great — nothing came broken. It was beautiful,”
Barie said.
When it came time to decide on a title for the program, Barie thought “Unbecoming” would be fitting because of something Braha told her during one of their conversations. The residency afforded Braha time, resources and space to experiment with her artistic practice and take creative risks. For her, it was a crucial opportunity to find her footing in her practice.
“Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything,” Braha said to Barie. “Maybe the journey is unbecoming everything that isn’t really you, so that you can be who you were meant to be in the first place.”
For Barie, it is a significant accomplishment for Braha to have made such a substantial body of work in a relatively short time period, and it is a testament to both her ability and her confidence as an artist.
“I think the most compelling part is (that) she spent six months in a place where she doesn’t know the culture or the language and jumped in by herself and did it, and made this amazing work with the help of other people,” Barie said.
Barie said she saw a shift from function-focused work to sculptural work in what Braha created during the residency, and she is excited to share Braha’s latest series of pieces with Chautauquans.
“I don’t know if a lot of people would travel across the world to go into a place for six months and live there and be so productive and creative,” she said.
“The work she made, I think, is stunning,” Barie added.
