Name Roma Babuniak | ||
 | ||
Roma Babuniak (born in England, 25th March 1952) is an artist whose work is associated with bone china and unglazed porcelain (bisque porcelain) She lived and worked in Germany from 1981 to 2014, and is currently living and working in Western Australia. Over the years she has won many prizes and awards, in 1986, the 1st International Ceramics Contest Mino, Japan, (Award with Honorable Mention for outstanding achievement) and the 1999 Premio Diputacio da Valencia; International BiennalManises, Museu de ceramic de Manises, Spain among others.
Contents
Biography
After completing an Art Foundation Degree from University of Salford, formerly known as Salford College of Technology 1971-73, she went on to Sheffield Hallam University formerly Sheffield School of Art and Design 1973-76 studying under Professor Tony Franks, where she gained a B.A.(Hons) degree in fine art and sculpture, with Film and Photography as subsidiary subjects under Professor Tom Ryall.
Roma Babuniak’s career as a professional artist began in North Wales in 1980. She was awarded a grant by the Welsh Arts Council for a solo exhibition. In 1981 she moved to Germany, where she still has a studio in Gmund am Tegernsee in Bavaria.
The 1980s saw development and acceptance of her work in galleries and exhibitions in Europe: England, Germany, Italy, France, and in Japan. In 1992, she exhibited in the “Encuentro” exhibition with Carmen Sanchez and Lotte Reimers at the Gonzalez Marti Museum in Valencia, Spain. In 1999 she was awarded the Premio Diputacio da Valencia at the international Biennial in Manises, in Spain in 2004 she received the L’Alcalaten prize at the international biennial in L’Alcora, Spain.
Selection for the Chelsea Crafts Fair, London in 1988/89/92/95 brought her into contact with the British Arts Council’s Contemporary Applied Arts with whom she exhibited in 1994/95 and other collectors including Sir John Makepeace and innovative exhibitions such as at Pulbrook and Gould ’s (Westonbirt School) in London. Work was purchased for the collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and exhibited at The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh under the curatorship of Amanda Game where it was purchased for the Royal Museum of Scotland, now under the National Museum of Scotland Babuniak’s work has been exhibited in Mino in Japan, where she received honourable mentions at international exhibitions, and also in Kyoto. In 2005 she was invited as an artist-in-residence to Shigaraki in Japan and from this followed a solo exhibition, “Cross-over”, under the curatorship of Hiroshi Kawaguchi at the Noritake Garden Gallery in Nagoya.
In 2008 at the “Junges Porzellan” exhibition in Selb, Germany, she was approached by Jurgen Scharer, author of “Auf den Punkt gebracht” and project leader in Meissen, who invited her to become part of the design team of ceramic artists on the project to celebrate 300 years of the Meissen Porcelain. However, following the threatening bankruptcy a radical overhaul, of the Meissen Porzellanmanufaktur by Dr. Christian Krutzke, saved the Porzellanmanufaktur but sadly resulted in the project being abandoned.
Work
The earlier years of her career saw experimentation projected from organic forms. These works intentionally never evolved into functional objects, as she rejected function in favour of a greater power of expression.
By the 90’s, the incorporation of other materials such as stainless steel and precious metals, reveals a more transcending aspect of her sculpture, delineating and architectural in tone.
Babuniak’s work is minimalist, disciplined and reserved, drawing on suburban landscapes where the subject matter is reduced to the essential characteristics. Her use and juxtaposition of apparently incongruous materials: bone china, porcelain, Poly(methyl)methacrylate , fine wire, stainless steel, and paper create tension within the harmony of the pattern.
In addition to international awards and plaudits, Babuniak has a following of private and public collectors and publications about her work have appeared in many countries.
Collections
Art Ventures
In 1987 Roma Babuniak founded the Studio Galerie in Gmund, Germany showing artists such as Vladimir Strelnikov a member of the Odessa Group, Soviet Nonconformist Artists, and German expressionist Georg Dudek.
Demands of her own career brought a temporary halt to the Studio Galerie which was relaunched in 2009 and focused on the concept of contemporary international artists from Germany and Japan: Christian Hes, Takao Inoue, Herbert Klee, Albert Lohr, Akashi Murakami, Christine Ott, Angelika Sieger, Georg Thumbach and others.
2001- 2009 she founded and curated “Windows for Show” in Tegernsee, Germany. This was an innovative concept which brought together six interregional artists who exhibited together for 3 months in an environment not traditionally associated with art exhibitions, but which promoted direct exposure to the public.
Roma Babuniak has been a member of the AK68 Art Society in Wasserburg am Inn, Germany since 1998. From 2008 until 2013 she served on the Board, and is still on the consulting panel. In this time, she was instrumental in instigating the exhibitions of Albert Lohr, Christine Ott with Christian Hes and Stephanie Muller.
Since 2013, she has been involved in the founding and curating of a newly built, international gallery in Kalamunda, Western Australia, expected to open in February 2016.