Clay is one of humanity's oldest creative companions. It records fingerprints, holds memory, cracks under pressure, hardens through fire, and can return to the earth. It exists somewhere between permanence and impermanence, control and chance, utility and expression...

For this issue of HAUS-A-REST, we invite artists and writers to explore Clay Every Which Way.

We are interested in clay beyond the pot, beyond tradition, beyond expectation.

Perhaps your work embraces ceramics, sculpture, installation or functional objects.

Maybe clay appears only as an idea, a metaphor for transformation, identity, labour, geology, archaeology, ritual, play, memory, or the body itself.

Perhaps you use unfired clay, clay slips, earth pigments, digital clay simulation, or explore landscapes where clay is found.

You may investigate making as repetition, touch, repair, fragility, resilience, or the relationship between maker and material.

We are equally interested in conceptual responses.

What does it mean to shape something with your hands?

How does clay remember touch?

Can a material carry history, culture or politics?

Where does craft end and contemporary art begin?

How do process, accident and transformation become collaborators in making?

Whether your work celebrates centuries-old ceramic traditions or completely dismantles our expectations of what clay can be, we welcome thoughtful, experimental and interdisciplinary responses.

We welcome

• Ceramics
• Sculpture
• Installation
• Photography
• Painting
• Drawing
• Printmaking
• Textile works incorporating clay
• Mixed media
• Land art
• Performance documentation
• Video (YouTube links only)
• Digital works
• Poetry
• Essays
• Short fiction
• Creative non-fiction
• Critical writing
• Experimental and hybrid texts

We're particularly interested in work that explores process as much as outcome, and that considers clay as material, metaphor, collaborator, or method.

Submission Guidelines

Please submit:

• Up to 3 artworks (JPEG format), or
• Up to 1,000 words of writing, or
• A combination of visual work and writing.

Please also include:

• Artwork titles
• A short statement about the work (maximum 200 words). THIS IS A MUST! The statement is to explain the context and HOW the work fits the theme. 
• A short biography (maximum 150 words)
• Your Instagram handle (required). We will ask you to collaborate and share the posts.
• Website (optional)
• For moving image or performance work, please submit YouTube links only AND a still from the video.

Terms

• Open internationally.
• Open to artists and writers at every stage of their career.
• There is no submission fee.
• All work must be original.
• Selected artists and writers will be featured in the HAUS-A-REST online zine, online gallery and across our social media platforms.
• Artists and writers retain full copyright of their work.
• By submitting, you grant HAUS-A-REST permission to publish and promote your work in connection with this issue.

At HAUS-A-REST, we celebrate artists and writers who are curious, experimental and willing to challenge conventions. We are looking for work that doesn't simply use clay as a material, but expands the conversation around making, materiality, touch, transformation and the enduring relationship between people and earth.

We look forward to seeing your interpretation of Clay Every Which Way.

Good luck.

Nichola & Jenna
HAUS-A-REST
A zine built by artists, for artists.