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Friday, April 11th through Sunday, May 18th.
Opening Reception with the artists: Friday,
April 11th, 5-8pm. Please join us!
Andy Shaw
Artist Statement
I have an idea for a play, or at least for the format of one, in which human actors are
replaced by empty costumes set among the necessary theatrical props. Aside from lighting
changes and scene dialogue read from the wings, there is no other activity onstage. Early
innovators in motion studies discovered persistence of vision, in which the retina briefly
retains flashed still images. Utilizing this phenomenon to develop the perception of motion,
they would show a sequence of images knowing that the brain would fill the time gaps
between frames. I would apply an interpretation of this discovery to the play to see
whether the tone of the dramatic dialogue can bring life to the vacancy in the costumes
through the perception and imagination of the audience.
In my pottery, I examine this format of vacancy and the tenuous balance it requires of the
viewer-participant in establishing completion. Knowing that the porcelain will become
active components within a home, I design each piece so that it can adapt to place and to
the personal preferences of each homeowner. In my studio I resist the artistic impulse to
create overall resolution, opting instead to leave room for improvisation by the cook
whose own need for creative resolution is just as necessary as mine. By leaving the glaze
color neutral, cooks recognize the invitation for a spinach, strawberry and almond salad or
perhaps for a grilled turkey club panini with purple onion. In this way, color is not a fixed
quality in the pottery, allowing it to have an active role in daily cooking.
Paring the tableware down for utilitarian needs, the round forms develop consistency
within a dinner set while the patterns, variations of lines and grids, offer individual distinction
while maintaining the unity of the set. Patterns extend to the rims of plates and seemingly
beyond to interact with the incidental, linear, domestic patterns present in shadows and in
the architectural elements of wooden floors and stair railings. My patterns respond to
contemporary home design trends while bridging to the pliability of handcrafted textiles.
The generalized character of the patterns allow the porcelain to adapt to place easily,
becoming a complement to a diversity of existing home designs.
In order for a pot to be functional it must be used. As the potter I design opportunities for
the homeowner to add color to the porcelain and to incorporate it actively with other
objects currently in the home. These purposefully designed thematic openings promote
substantial connections between the pottery and its audience by drawing out practical and
aesthetic utility within an advocacy for creative living.
Kristen Kieffer
Artist Statement
My work aligns itself with the detail, sophistication and beauty of a bygone era, though my desire is to evoke an air of 21st century extravagance. Within the parameters of the ceramic vessel, I am interested in investigating line, form and texture.
My primary influences are clothing and metalworking. In past cultures and times, both clothing and metal forms had the ability to be simultaneously decorative and usable. The hard lines of vintage corsetry, Elizabethan dress and couture costuming, and conversely the soft lines of Art Nouveau silver, Islamic brass and American silver, intrigue me; soft material making hard edges, and hard material yielding soft forms. As I throw, alter and build with clay, I am drawing in three-dimensions, deciding what kind of line, edge and shadow will best accentuate the pot's silhouette.
Pattern is another influence. I use repetitive pattern and accents to compliment or define form. Patterning ideas come from fabric, jewelry, architecture and furniture. These external embellishments are smaller, detailed lines and shapes giving strength to the bold lines defining the pot's shape. My choice of monochrome color (a cue from the metalworking) allows the pattern to coexist with but not dominate the form.
Form is my primary interest as an object-maker, followed by ornamentation and function. I am ultimately interested in formal investigations of line and detail to define form in my work.
Albion James Stafford
Artist Statement
My work is currently focused on an investigation into the ways in which we know, respond to, and are affected by our environments. The forms, shapes, and surfaces present in this work are inspired by the elements of the modern world around us. Our visual landscape is embossed with the ordered patterns of the manmade environment: our sidewalks, power lines, and structures. This regimentation is often juxtaposed with elements of disorder, which could be associated with nature, or the dishevelment of structure amidst decay. A subtle balance is created there, one we all know and view often. This balance in our environment is continually shifting, changing in accordance with mankind's progression, elements of nature and time.
The groupings of objects that I curate often setup a dynamic in which visually the objects seem disparate, giving a sense of eclecticism and diversity. Analytically, however, the objects will share commonalities and traits binding them together into a whole. This characteristic takes place in many environments throughout our world. The rapid proliferation of technology and modes of structure evident in our landscape today signify change relative to the preexisting environment. The meld of different epochs and the energy created amidst the representations of them is the point of departure for the work.
Through the format of functional ceramic, I urge the viewer to see a representation of our landscapes and architecture that investigate the nature of the balance between them, and discover the beauty and complexity behind this relationship. Objects of utility provide a contemplative space and time in our daily lives in which we often enter into a state of reflection, a state in which we reconcile our relations to the world around us and with ourselves. What we see in our lives day to day becomes that with which we subconsciously identify. By reflecting this phenomenon in the functional work that I make, I establish a familiarity drawing the viewer in closer to examine some of the nuance our environments exude.
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