Zali Odlum

Working across, ceramics, glass and mixed-media, Zali Odlum’s art practice investigates the entangled relationships between materiality, human intervention, ecological depletion and environmental resilience. Her works often confront the tensions between natures inherent impermanence and the human drive for permanence, challenging how this desire shapes and often exacerbates contemporary ecological degradation. Tangled, knotted and interweaved forms reflect the complex interwoven connections between humans and the environment, drawing on both subterranean and surface references. Her forms reflect the emotional weight of living in a time of ecological uncertainty where connection is held in fragile tension. Drawing on materials embedded in natural processes, she often incorporates wood ash in her ceramic glazes embodying the tactility of transformation, speaking about decay and renewal, a form ecological resilience. Zali invites her audience to reflect on material consequences of human intervention, the fragility of ecological life, and the resilience embedded in processes of transformation and decay.