Cadi Froehlich is an artist who makes artworks to live with. Each piece is a sculpture which gives the viewer confidence to interact with the form and materials of the object. Using clay, salvaged copper, cables and electrical components, her work investigates the hidden infrastructure of the interaction between the shared wisdoms, the support and the technology which sustain us. Her recent experience as a participant on The Great Pottery Throw Down is a working example of connecting with new people, places and practices as she navigates the dichotomy of working as an artist in a capitalist society. Awards include the Red Mansion Prize, promoting artistic exchange between the UK and China; the Jerwood Drawing Prize and AxisMAStars. She is a member of the democratic artists’ collective The London Group.
Cadi Froehlich is a British artist whose practice explores the physicality of exchanges between people, objects and material:
I make artworks to live with. Each piece is a sculpture which gives the viewer confidence to interact with the form and materials of the object.
Using clay, salvaged copper, cables and electrical components, my work investigates the hidden infrastructure of the interaction between the shared wisdoms, the support and the technology which sustain us.
I leave some makers traces on my work, and the plates are wall art which can be taken down and shared. The bottles are varying stages of practical, with salvaged copper connecting some components. I evoke digital communications with the used wires and imprints of electrical components.
I have an MA Fine Art from UAL Chelsea and Camberwell, BA Fine Art from Brighton. I won 2nd prize in the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2011, then was nominated as AxisWeb MAStars 2013 followed by the Red Mansion prize comprising a month residency in Beijing in 2015 and a show at Slade. As a result of that work I one the Presidents Prize at The London Group Open in 2016 and was elected a member.
I continue to show with The London Group a couple of times a year in London and beyond, including the recent 111th anniversary show at Quay arts in Newtown, on the Isle of Wight. I frequently participate in the artist talks at these shows, and have recently been invited to present to the Fine Art students at Sheffield Hallam University.
My recent experience on The Great Pottery Throw Down is a working example of connecting with new people, places and practices as I navigate the dichotomy of working as an artist in a capitalist society.
Recent exhibitions include 111 Not Out, Newport, 2024, Come Together, The Art Cohort Bath, 2021, Miniscule, Venice, In the Dark, London, PROTOCOL, The London Group at St Ives, The Mesh at Watermans in London, and Shoreham Sculpture Trail.
Work is held in public and private collections including the Chelsea College special collection, London.
Cadi Froehlich https://cadifroehlich.com/artist-biography/
Tea Table 2011 Jerwood prize (2nd)
This copper postcard went to Brisbane and back.
Every human being carries an average 40 litres of water.
Cadi describes how she lost her month during the Covid pandemic and how she was allowed only thirty guests to the funeral service and this piece represents that with thirty mugs that have been held too tight held together by copper piping.
Copper and ceramics – both malleable in their own ways, both playing a vital part in the digital technologies which connect us today.
I became fascinated with the proliferation of wires and cables during my residency in Beijing having been awarded the Red Mansion Prize. I became increasingly appreciative of the role they play in communications.
Copper is a commonly reclaimed and recycled material, whilst ceramics last for centuries. The silica which makes up the clay and the glaze is the basis for microchips. This idea that pottery will outlive current generations means I imagine I am making objects which may provide the raw materials for future Hand Made Devices.
My pots usually have holes poked in them, are stained with copper carbonate, or are left as plain burnished clay to challenge assumptions about functional vessels.
https://cadifroehlich.com/ceramic-objects/
Really lovely talk Cadi talks about motherhood, mental health and the struggle working with materials that can be bulky and unwieldy.
Rusty'sArtWerk 