The Montgomery Sculpture Trust Report to the Trustees

The Trustees of the Montgomery Sculpture Trust selected Dimitry Khozyaikin a ceramicist from Novosibirsk, Siberia to be their Artist in Residence for 2004.He stayed at Snells Farm for two months accompanied by his interpreter Stanislav Okhvat.

The project was complex in that it required the help of ceramicists with kilns available and we are grateful for their help but in particular Heather Paul of the Queens Park Centre Aylesbury. She was instrumental in helping the artist obtain materials and kiln space at Bucks Chiltern University and with Robin Welch, an eminent ceramic artist who lives in Suffolk. A private viewing was held on Saturday 28 August to which local ceramicists and neighbours were invited.

The artist was able to visit many galleries and places of interest during his stay and has taken back many ideas to Novosibirsk where he works as a teacher and artist.

The residency was not delivered under budget. The principal unexpected costs were in travelling to find kiln space because the Queens Park kiln was too small and in the end not effective. In addition, inviting the interpreter meant many of our costs were duplicated and both Russian guests were fairly assiduous in taking advantage of spare time in travelling at the Trust’s expense to galleries and other collections. However inviting an artist from Siberia probably meant we would need an interpreter and Stanislav was an effective negotiator and essential to the project. Also part of the purpose of the Residency is to support assists from aboard to visit galleries and collections to help them develop their work.

The many complex problems encountered were mainly resolved by Adam Ward in co-operation with Stanislav. The success of the project was very much due to their efforts as much as the artist’s.