Camilla Dilshat
Camilla Dilshat is a multidisciplinary artist currently studying her Masters in Fine Art at City & Guilds of London Art School. Camilla's work react to her diasporic experiences growing up as a British-born Uyghur, where comforts such as eating home-cooked food interweave with the visceral discomfort of disconnection to traditional culture and a physical homeland. Deeper notions of home are tested through Camilla's creations, strange creatures that search their worlds with only tongues. The shedding snake that recurs through her work sometimes scratches at the itchiness of irresolvable nostalgia. Connection with her mother is core to Camilla's work, and the magic of her mother's cooking is something explored over and again through ceramic and clay sculptures.
Find out what Camilla is doing now here, and click here to see her portfolio.
A window into Camilla Dilshat's world
2022 Handmade marquetry wooden board, cotton string, latex, acrylic and glazed ceramic. 14 by 22 by 22 cm
CGLAS MAFA 2022 Interim Show. Installation. 90 by 120 by 20 cm Plastic sheet, clear polystyrene sheet, bricks, cooking foil, double sided tape, salt dough, paprika, turmeric, latex, sand, metal wire, sheep wool, tea leaves, sewing thread, super glue.
2022 Glazed and unglazed ceramic, unfired clay containing hay and sand, found ceramic from my garden, sheep's wool, latex, acrylic, sunflower seeds husks from my Mother, salt dough, glue. 21 by 47 by 20 cm
2022 Handmade marquetry wooden board, cotton string, latex, acrylic and glazed ceramic. 14 by 22 by 22 cm
In Summer 2022, Camilla Dilshat collaborated with Our Canvas to produce 2 videos on her creative process as she prepared for an upcoming exhibition. This was a really fascinating project, and we hope you enjoy what we discovered.
Talking to the Artist Camilla Dilshat
Part 1: A Notion of Home​
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Camilla Dilshat begins work on scultping two gourds for an exhibition with City & Guilds of London Art School. Excavating what gourds tell us about shelter and comfort, Camilla explains how memories and vulnerability can surface once we begin to feel safe.
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In this video, Camilla also demonstrates how giving voice to her intuition reveals the path forward in building her pieces. Not only does this practice find avenues wisdom that cannot be fully expressed by language alone, but it allows for intuition to guide a creator through the hurdles of minute artistic choices that can so often paralyse our conscious decision-making.
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Following your intuition seems to be an obvious but widely undervalued way to develop your craft, and enjoy doing so.
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Talking to the Artist Camilla Dilshat
Part 2: Comfort and Ritual​
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As Camilla finalises these pieces for the exhibition, she continues to explore how discomfort and comfort can tangle together through the symbolism of the shedding snake, which she weaves into her gourd sculptures.
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This video centres around the technical aspects of sculpture and design, and may be particularly interesting to sculptors and aspiring artists. After following these '(Dis)comfort Gourds' through their material and conceptual transformations, we see them in their more timeless state at the exhibition.