Artwork · 2015–2018

Terraformation

Site-specific clay, geology, and memory become a language of place.

Contextual Statement

Material, place, and transformation

Developed during Martie Geiger-Ho’s years in Brunei Darussalam, Terraformation grows from direct engagement with local earth. Hand-gathered clays from the University of Brunei Darussalam campus and Berakas Beach were processed in small batches, making variation and unpredictability central to the work. Wheel-thrown and handbuilt forms preserve the tactile character of those materials rather than disguising them beneath standardized surfaces. The series treats each vessel as a small geological record: clay carries the qualities of its place of origin, while firing transforms that material into an object that still resonates with landscape, weathering, sediment, and earth. For Martie, the experimental process is also pedagogical—an invitation to understand ceramics as a meeting point between visual art, geology, and the physical environment.

International Exhibition & Collection

Representing Brunei at the 2019 Cheongju Craft Biennale

The Terraformation Series moved from Martie’s material research in Brunei into an international ASEAN context, where Brunei clay became both medium and cultural geography.

Brunei Darussalam installation at ASEAN Crafts: From Heritage to the Contemporary, 2019 Cheongju Craft Biennale — Brunei Darussalam installation, *ASEAN Crafts: From Heritage to the Contemporary*, ASEAN Pavilion, 2019 Cheongju Craft Biennale, Cheongju, Korea.

From Brunei clay to an international collection

Martie developed the Terraformation Series in Brunei from 2015 to 2018 using locally gathered clay, including material collected from the Universiti Brunei Darussalam campus and Berakas Beach. Rather than treating clay as a neutral studio material, she allowed its mineral character, color, texture, and geological associations to remain visible. The resulting vessels and sculptural forms carry a direct physical relationship to the landscape from which they originated.

In 2019, Terraformation ceramics were presented for Brunei in ASEAN Crafts: From Heritage to the Contemporary at the ASEAN Pavilion during the Cheongju Craft Biennale in Cheongju, Korea. The installation placed Martie’s Brunei-derived ceramics within a broader presentation of craft from ASEAN member states, extending the series’ dialogue between local earth, cultural place, and contemporary making.

In 2020, four Terraformation works entered the permanent collection of The Korea Foundation: Iron Banded Bottle with White Neck, Berakas Pot with White Texture Shoulder, FeS2 (Iron Sulfide) Earth Crusted Vessel, and Short Thrown Terra Formed Bottle. This institutional collection preserves an important material record of Martie’s Brunei period.