‘soft’

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 07:19:11 -0600

For those of you who weren’t at NCECA in Philadelphia this year or weren’t able to make it all the way out (long haul) to St. Joseph’s University during NCECA, here are some pictures of the show. ‘Soft’ was an idea that i proposed to NCECA as part of their ‘Concurrent Independent Exhibitions’ series. I was extremely fortunate to be granted such an opportunity as well as to include three other very talented ceramic artists: Ingrid Bathe, Hiroe Hanazono, and gwendolyn yoppolo. All together, I think our work made a very strong show; we got great feedback and even sold quite a bit!
Curatorial Statement

The works in this exhibition are more than utilitarian vessels; they are soft and sensuous in form and surface. Pots are remarkably accessible objects. Since we use them daily, we are familiar with them. When we interact with such objects, our emotions are affected sense-fully. Thus, through the mind:body connection, many of us experience, on some level, a recognition of ‘domestic intimacy’. We four choose to give our pots qualities that amplify tenderness and a consideration for well- being. As makers, we hope to encourage the importance of a holistic experience by heightening the user's sensual awareness as he/she engages in rituals of daily nourishment.

The idea for this show was developed during the summer of 2008 when both gwendolyn and Hiroe were summer residents at the Archie Bray Foundation and I was, at the time, a long-term resident. Throughout the summer, when i nosed around in the summer studios, I kept being drawn to their work and eventually I realized that we were all doing the same thing (creating soft forms and surfaces), but each of us was doing it quite differently.

Hiroe Hanazono:
Hiroe’s process is pretty amazing and definitely high-tech; her pieces are slip-cast (which I don’t normally associate with the visibility of the artist’s ‘touch’), but the work still has a very strong personal presence. Silky and velvety surfaces are amplified by subtle colors and her model-making and slip-casting process gives her a very clean, perfect object that shows off it’s soft qualities.
gwendolyn yoppolo:
gwendolyn sets no limits to her process! She uses the wheel, the slab-roller, plaster molds, coiling, or whatever method will get her what she wants. her forms are dynamic and complex without being overelaborate and she takes the idea of softness to the utmost.
Ingrid Bathe:
I first met Ingrid at Watershed Center for Ceramics in Newcastle, Maine and was immediately drawn to her pots. At the time, I was still in school and my personal style was in its early developmental stages, so our work wasn’t really much alike, but her pots definitely inspired me and I continue to be amazed by her process and by the beauty of her work.

I think it’s incredible that we all make work so differently, but with the same concerns in mind and that peoples’ emotional responses to them are so similar. It was a real pleasure to see it all together!

‘Comments’ will be enabled for this album or you can comment here on the blog; please let us know what you think!

click here to see ‘soft’

Welcome to (b)blog!

Fri, 9 Apr 2010 11:01:04 -0600

i want to dedicate my very first blog entry to a description of my process:
the philosophy: although i make pots, my work is conceptual; in other words, i use it as a means of expression. for me, this means that formal elements such as volume and color, for example, are carefully chosen to lead one’s senses (even if they are only my own) in a certain direction. every single aspect of my work is concerned with emotion. this is exciting for me because it means i generally develop the relationships between formal elements from within. ‘form follows feeling’ rather than ‘form follows function’. of course, i am influenced by both contemporary and historical ceramics, but i tend to be drawn to the life of an object more than the formal beauty of the object itself. i am more interested in understanding the role a pot has played in the life of its user than in celebrating the specific ‘style’ of the pot itself. as i write this, i think what i am trying to say is that i hope for my work to be recognized not by a specific formal style, but rather by an idea-based modus operandi. ‘domestic intimacy’ is a term i coined (i think; please correct me if it existed before!) in graduate school and is at the heart of every single thing i do. the strength of my work is in my commitment to this concept. my style may change or i may employ several different formal styles, but they will always lead the user back to the idea of nurture/nourishment.
the process: every technical choice i make connects back to the philosophy behind what i do, so that the work speaks clearly and honestly. to simplify, here are a few equations:
redware=warmth
soft forms=comfort/familiarity
soft surfaces=care/concern
exposed technical ‘clues’=history
every step of the way, i leave little clues that reveal my process. nothing is concealed: seams are left exposed, i don’t try to hide surface imperfections, the little places where my fingers hold the piece as i dip it in bisque slip remain and drips (from that slip) record the pot’s path through space and time. my pots are far from ‘perfectly executed’, but they are executed with perfect intention; an intention of creating individual objects, each with its own set of physical characteristics. you’d have to spend time, use your senses in order to find each one’s individual character. i have worked hard to find a construction process that doesn’t drive me crazy... the very energy that i put into the actual construction of my pots is visible in the final product, so i must enjoy the process. the tools i use are simple: i design and make all of my own hump molds from plaster. i use a slab roller, an extruder, and a minimal number of other tools. with very few exceptions, i work with fresh clay slabs from which i cut pieces with a paper pattern. these are usually joined directly on the mold with slip and pressure from the palms of my hands or a brayer, then immediately removed and further shaped from the inside either with my fingers or with a very soft rib. this process is direct and intuitive and gives each piece a vitality that is disclosed in the fired work. my forms are simple so that they do not compete with the glaze surfaces, but rather ‘present’ them. my favorite part of the whole process is surface development. i do a lot of glaze testing. the testing is directed toward developing nuanced surfaces that are visually layered through variations in transparency, translucency, and opacity and subtle colors that hint at physical and emotional states of being. between no color and all colors, there is an incredible, infinite wealth of opportunities for expression. it’s what rocks my world! at some point i will definitely address glazes in more depth...and beyond the physical process, there is actually much more at play, but that’s for another entry, another day!