Design & photography : Gilded Pear Gallery
cover:
August 5 - October 26, 2024 | Reception: October 5, 2024
In conjunction with the Iowa Clay Conference, Gilded Pear Gallery has partnered with the Iowa Ceramics Center & Glass Studio to host two fall exhibitions. Featured in this publication is River 2 River: National Juried Exhibition, a nationally recognized biennial exhibition that highlights the richness and diversity of contemporary ceramic art within the continental United States. Jurors Jonathan Christensen Caballero and Kate Schroeder selected 21 artists’ work from over 100 entries. The jurors selected one best-of-show and two honorable mention awards announced at the public reception held for both fall exhibitions.
The Iowa Ceramics Center & Glass Studio is a non-profit facility whose purpose is to promote understanding, appreciation and professional development in the ceramic arts. The Center is organized and operated by Iowa Artworks, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not for profit organization supported by earned income, grants, private contributions and memberships.
Jonathan Christensen Caballero is an multidisciplinary artist born and raised in Utah. He received his A.S. in art from Snow College, B.F.A in ceramics and sculpture from Utah State University and M.F.A. in ceramics from Indiana University Bloomington. He has exhibited nationally in shows such as The Regional at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, NCECA Annual: Social Recession at the Weston Art Gallery, Figuring Space at The Clay Studio Philadelphia.
Christensen Caballero has been the ceramic Artist in Residence at the Interdisciplinary Ceramic Research Center at the University of Kansas, the Lawrence Arts Center, and Belger Crane Yard. As of August 2023, he is working full time as the Sculpture Shop Technician and Lecturer at the Kansas City Art Institute. Christensen Caballero’s work focuses on the human figure and advocates for the Latin American labor community by highlighting our histories.
Nature at Home/La Naturaleza en Casa
Earthenware, gold luster, metal, digital print, wood 12” x 26.5” x 5.5”
Kate Schroeder is a ceramicist and full time professional artist residing in Kansas City, Missouri. She earned a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Sculpture and Ceramics from the University of Central Missouri and a Masters of Fine Arts also emphasizing Sculpture and Ceramics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Kate’s main career focus is direct to collector relationships.
Her work can be found in over 3000 collections around the globe. In fact, it can be found on all 7 continents! Kate has exhibited and taught workshops coast to coast, digitally and in person. She was also a long term career resident at Belger Crane Yard Studios.
Stoneware, porcelain, glaze, underglaze, nichrome, brass, wood, glass, electrical components
8.5” x 8.5” x 6.5”
Stoneware, porcelain, underglaze, resin, vinyl, LEDs, electrical components
7.5” x 8.5” x 9.25”
Before transitioning to a full time artist, Kate also spent nearly a decade as an educator. She has worked for universities, art institutes, and community colleges. She also spent several years dedicated to the nonprofit sector. During this time she managed EPIC Clay Studio a 501-C3 ceramics studio and Accessible Arts, a Not-For-Profit arts organization, which specialized in teaching art to people with disabilities. She also lived in Tanzania for a summer, where she started a small ceramics program for Walk In Love International.
Artist Statement
My work is an allegory of self-acceptance. I hand-build rabbit-like creatures; I normally add long phallic necks and/or a second pair of ears to highlight openness. I use the rabbit as a symbol of the strength that can come from embracing our vulnerability. My ceramic sculptures invite me to reflect upon what I have experienced as a gay Mexican ceramic artist; explorations of sexuality, desire, suicide, alienation, depression and compassion. I choose to work with clay because of the direct connections with the actions of touching and transforming.
Artist Biography
José Arenivar-Gómez is a Mexican ceramics artist and educator based in Metro Detroit. He was born and raised in Chihuahua, Mexico and immigrated with his family to the Las Cruces, NM in 2007 so that he could pursue higher education at New Mexico State University. Jose received his BFA in Drawing and Ceramics at NMSU in 2015 and his MFA in Ceramics from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 2018. His work has been shown nationally in venues like the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, David Salkin Creative and Cranbrook Art Museum.
Artist Statement
An overt theme in my work is the human condition of our relationship to accumulation. I view the world around me as a landscape of accumulating visual information constructed of sporadic cultural significance; ambiguity defined by brief moments of clarity. I am fascinated by how, as decades pass, both new and old overlap and fold into each other. By focusing on a mix of architectural ornament, exposed layers of earth, engineered forms, monument, and manufactured byproduct, the accumulations I create reference abstract notions of the confluence of memory, geography, and society. All of the information we see in the present also contains something of the past, the process behind the viewable surface. Both natural and human made, we are surrounded by vast accumulation, fragmentation and deep repetition. My work expresses this viewed reality, not from a place of judgment, but rather a place of investigation and rumination.
Artist Biography
Nicolas Darcourt received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Northern Michigan University, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities with a Minor in Art History. Upon completion, Nicolas has been a resident artist at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts. His ceramic work has been shown both nationally and internationally, and belongs to a number of private collections. Nicolas has exhibited work in solo, two person, and group exhibitions in regional venues The Hillstrom Museum of Art St. Peter MN, the Minnetonka Center for the Arts MN, The Phipps Center for the Arts Hudson WI, and The Carnegie Art Center Mankato MN. Nicolas has also exhibited works in local and national juried group exhibitions at such venues as the Modlin Center for the Arts, Richmond, VA, Rosalux Gallery Minneapolis MN, Workhouse Art Center Lorton VA, the LH Horton Jr. Gallery Stockton CA, Mulvane Art Museum Topeka KS, and the Kirkland Arts Center Kirkland WA. Nicolas has received a McKnight Artist Fellowship and a Minnesota State Arts Board, Artist Initiative Grant. He has taught ceramics at Minnesota State University Moorhead and The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Regis Center for Art. Currently, he is a Continuing Assistant Professor in the Department of Art and Art History at Gustavus Adolphus College. Nicolas, his partner, and son live in Minnetonka, Minnesota, where he has a home studio.
Accumulated Perspectives
Artist Statement
There has always remained a strong relationship between my body and clay. Both materials are always changing, shifting and in a constant state of flux. I utilize raw clay as a creative expression to illuminate what is happening internally.
We are all vessels, exploring our physical existence in whatever space we occupy – Recently, an internal toil has transformed how I relate to my body and how my body is relating to the world around me. This involuntary labor is taking force and yielding to give way to something new. Similar to the transformation of clay I perform by mutating it from one form to another, revealing new creation. The internal becomes visible to the external. This creative energy conversion unfolds to multiply, gestates while replicating, and yields unending growth with overlapping evolutions.
Artist Biography
Kathryn Agnes Baczeski is a clay-based artist and Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. Her teaching and creative practices encompass sculpture, installation, performance art, and experiential immersive experiences. She earned her BFA in Sculpture at the University of Connecticut in 2009, and MFA in Ceramics from Indiana University in 2016. Her residencies and exhibitions include: Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center in Denmark; NCECA 2023 in Cincinnati, Ohio; Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine; Peters Valley School of Craft in Layton, New Jersey; and the Iowa Ceramics and Glass Studio in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Baczeski is the former co-founder of the exhibition spaces Fresh As Fruit and Still Life With Fruit, and champions art in all forms.
Artist Statement
My work is an abstracted representation of me: my identity, the way in which I relate to others and understand the environment I am in. I use ceramic materials to create formal abstractions that reveal different facets physical, experiential, emotional of myself. Working with clay is my form of being.
Artist Biography
Originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Louise Deroualle moved to the U.S. in 2013 to pursue a Master’s degree in Ceramics at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Deroualle currently is a Lecturer of Art at the University of North Carolina in Asheville. Prior to moving to NC she was the Studio Coordinator of Ceramics at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Colorado. She exhibits nationally and has been awarded competitive residencies and fellowships, including the Roswell Artist-in-Residency and The Aspen Art Museum Fellowship.
Artist Statement
My ceramic work explores a speculative world, beyond our own, on a planet that could be discovered. Seed pods, fruit, fossils and stones of the invented world are artifacts. To understand a specimen and its function in an ecosystem, it needs to be studied in a deep, concentrated manner. I am referencing collecting, field journaling and natural history. From these references, I construct another world, with seeds and fruit similar to our world but yet completely foreign. I am using quickly identifiable textures and forms, like those found on cactus, coral, fruit and seeds, to influence my specimen. These moments of recognizable nature connect the viewer to the objects and encourage further study. Species existing on another planet allow me to speculate an alternative reality and focus more on the potential of other species without restrictions of what we know as real.
Artist Biography
Erin Drake was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio. She attended Bowling Green State University, in Ohio, where she received her Bachelor in Fine Arts degree in studio art in 2021. While in school she worked as a studio technician as well as was a studio assistant to John Balistreri. Following her BFA she pursued her MFA at the University of Missouri in the school of Visual Studies in ceramics. She graduated with her MFA in 2024. Her work predominately focuses on observations of the natural world, like seeds, fruit, cactus, fossils and shells and the collections of these specimen. These interests have coalesced into a sculptural ceramic practice with a focus on the creation of an invented world. Drake has seen success throughout her academic career thus far. She is the recipient of several scholarships, and grants including several for studio art and research. Notably, she received a CURS grant for researching the possibilities of full color ceramic decal printing. Drake has also participated in several group and solo exhibitions. Most recently, she completed her solo thesis exhibition titled “Botanical Imaginaries” in the George Caleb Bingham Gallery in Columbia, Missouri.
Artist Statement
My artistic research focuses on the analysis of identity through the ceramic language. In a constant dialogue between past experiences rooted in my tradition as an artisan of Talavera Poblana and my current reality as a Mexican migrant I examine my personal tradition, which dynamically evolves as my environment changes. Each piece I make acts as a meeting point between these two worlds, weaving together threads from the past and present to craft a unique and evocative visual narrative.
My creations are conceived as memory devices that invite reflection, demanding attention and claiming their space in the environment. These objects encapsulate the narratives of the artisanal tradition and the contemporary realities of migration, serving as material witnesses to the evolution and transformation of identity.
The visual presence of my pieces seeks to reclaim the space that Mexican identity deserves on the global stage. My objects are statements that demand attention and recognition, challenging the conventional perception of ceramics and redefining its role as a powerful medium for cultural and social expression. My artistic quest continues towards the creation of an intercultural dialogue, where ceramics becomes a medium that transcends borders, connecting the shared and divergent experiences of Mexican identity.
Artist Biography
I'm a Mexican artist currently living in Iowa City. Being an immigrant artist, the ceramicsculptural work that I do seeks to highlight my roots and cultural heritage as well as my background as a Traditional Talavera pottery artisan.
Artist Statement
Working over the years with pottery communities around the world has led me to appreciate on a very personal level how deeply these potters reflect in their work the historical roots of where they live. I want to express in my own work a similar sensibility towards the pottery history of where I live, and of my family’s connection to that history. I am directly related to 17th century Dutch potters. As such, this approach goes beyond being simply “inspired by history.” It requires intimate sensitivity to, and nuanced appreciation of, the complex interplay between resilience and adaptation that defines all traditional ceramic art. I see the pots I make as being my contribution to a larger conversation in clay that spans centuries.
Artist Biography
Stephen Earp earned a BFA in Ceramics from the University of Iowa in 1986, followed by an apprenticeship at St. John’s Pottery in Collegeville, MN. He has worked on archeological digs in the Ivory Coast, as ceramic field technician in Nicaragua, and as Master Potter at Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, MA. He established Stephen Earp Redware in Shelburne Falls, MA in 2004. Earp has been listed in the National Directory of Traditional American Crafts since 2007. He was included in the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Keepers of Tradition archive in 2010. He was recognized by the MCC’s Traditional Arts Fellowship program in 2008, 2016 and 2021. Earp’s writings on ceramics include the series “This Day in Pottery History,” syndicated for the online magazine “This Is Diversity” from 2008 to 2012 and ongoing in blog format, contributions to “Ceramics in America,” an annual compilation of research and commentary on historical ceramic topics, and in Studio Potter Magazine. In 2021, Earp guest curated “American Clay: Modern Potters, Traditional Pots” at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA. His work can be found at museums, historical sites, and galleries across the country. detail
Shifting Up
White earthenware
9” x 7” x 6”
Artist Statement
The ceramic forms I build are meticulously constructed by hand. Taking advantage of the clay's plasticity, I push and swell the walls to create volume that imparts sensuality and intrigue to the forms. Like brocade stretched to cover an overstuffed chair, my pieces reveal a sense of expansion as if one form is gently surrounding another. Each piece beckons to be held in the hands, and perhaps brought close to the face, to listen and examine with a greater intensity. On the surface, a complex layering of pattern and color evolves as the clay is worked at each stage. Precise patterns carved deeply into clay’s surface merge with the form, inviting the decoration to become structure. There is a push and pull in my work. I extract and reconstruct elements of functional domestic forms, at one time referencing, at another abstracting, their familiar roles within our culture. My investigation encompasses not only the aesthetic qualities of familiar objects, but also their symbolic functions within our lives. I investigate where these two realms overlap and what happens when the decorative aspect becomes the function. One person may perceive the delicate edge of a lace curtain as trivial and unnecessary, while another may experience it as an intimate reminder that they live in a loving home.
Artist Biography
Erin Furimsky is a practicing studio artist in Bloomington, Illinois whose work focuses on the relationship of sculptural form with highly ornamented surfaces. She received a BFA from the Pennsylvania State University (1997) and an MFA from The Ohio State University (2002). Furimsky has exhibited her work nationally with inclusions of her work in international exhibitions in China and Taiwan. Her work has been included in over one hundred group and solo exhibitions, with reproductions of her ceramic work being featured in numerous books and catalogs. Critical reviews of Furimskys’ work have appeared on several occasions in the journals Ceramics Monthly and Ceramics Art and Perception. Furimsky was nominated and chosen as an emerging artist by the National Council on Education of the Ceramic Arts. She has been the recipient of numerous artist residencies, including the Archie Bray Foundation, The Red Lodge Clay Center, The Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts and the Oregon College of Art and Design. She is featured in a number streaming videos on Ceramic Arts Network. As an educator Furimsky has been a featured presenter at national workshops, as well as serving as a visiting professor at Illinois State University and Heartland Community College, both in Normal, IL.
detail
Artist Statement
By exploiting the fragility and translucency of porcelain, I employ the process of casting on metaphorical terms. To me, a mold creates a memory of an object, picking up traces of its use and history. Clay has the ability to contain this memory, creating a ghost-like membrane that divides presence from absence. It is this fine line between reality and memory that my work explores. As an installation artist, I become a mediator between site and object, object and viewer, past and present. By combining cast objects and temporal situations, I offer a visual metaphor for the phenomena of time and memory while encouraging viewers to be mindful of their presence in space and time. I cast everyday objects and scenarios to investigate their narrative qualities and potential to play off the collective memory of the viewer. My most recent work employs the human figure to explore notions of our shared humanity. “On a Wing” hopes to express the leaps of faith we must take to overcome obstacles.
Artist Biography
Jen Holt’s porcelain sculpture and installation revolves around notions of time, place, and memory. Her work has been exhibited in numerous national and international exhibitions, including: The NCECA Clay National Biennial”, Louisville, KY; “Clay: Time, Place & Memory”, Phoenix Sky Harbor Art Museum, AZ; "The Dorothy Saxe Invitational", Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA; and “In Sight”, Holter Museum of Art, Helena MT. She has been an artist in residence at the Archie Bray Foundation, Watershed Center, Lawrence Art Center, Red Lodge Clay Center, and attended an international residency at FuLe International Ceramic Art Museums in China. Her artwork has been published in national and international publications and resides in many private and public collections. Holt received her BFA in Sculpture from Ohio University, and MFA in Ceramics from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. She currently resides in east-central Kansas where she is a practicing artist and Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Emporia State University.
On a Wing
Porcelain, thread
Dimensions variable
Artist Statement
My artistic practice is deeply rooted in my cultural background, religious influences, and nostalgic memories. I express these themes through drawings and sculptures, each possessing its own narrative. These narratives are conveyed through unique characters that serve as a vessel for personal introspection and societal messages, often encapsulating hidden desires and concealed emotions. Utilizing whimsical humor, my work often includes nostalgic figures and objects that evoke sentimental responses in viewers. Central to my artistic process is an ongoing exploration of self. Constant self-inquiry regarding my identity allows me to delve into diverse narratives through these characters. They represent the spectrum of my emotional landscape, influenced by both internal and external factors such as trauma, anxiety, longing, and desire. My drawings and sculptures serve as a visual diary, reflecting the spectrum of emotions I experience daily. Often, I incorporate found objects into my work, not only to introduce a new visual language but also to underscore the original narratives. These found objects fuel my imagination, resulting in a fusion of elements that create visual complexity.
Artist Biography
Huey Lee is a ceramic artist from South Korea who has dedicated his career to exploring the expressive possibilities of clay. After completing his training as a traditional Korean ceramic artisan, Lee honed his skills working at various pottery and ceramic studios. During this time, he had the privilege of studying under renowned ceramic artists such as TaeGon Kim, Inchin Lee, and the late Gil-bae Kim, who imparted their knowledge of technique, form, and aesthetics. He holds a BFA from Kyung Hee University in Korea and an MFA from the University of Georgia.
Triana Cream and Sugar Set
Stoneware, glaze 9” x 11” x 8”
Artist Statement
I am interested in creating pottery that is animated, inviting lively interactions. My wheelthrown and altered work aims to capture fleeting emotions of celebration and joy that are both personal and shared. Sweeping my fingers along the walls and rim of the work after throwing adds personality and breath to my forms. Memories of time spent with family take form in functional pieces through handmade sprig molds, carving and glaze variegation and crystallization. I want my work to accompany people as they move through their lives. My work encourages people to slow down, recall small moments of joy, and inspire connection.
Artist Biography
Ivy Mattson is a functional ceramicist based in Minneapolis, MN. Her wheel thrown and altered work is highly decorated, projecting joy, wonder, and curiosity–values that are echoed in her teaching practice. Mattson first began working with clay while earning her BA in Art Education at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. She was then a ceramic studio artist at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, ND, while teaching art in Moorhead before moving to Minneapolis. There, she completed the MN New Institute for Ceramic Education Program in 2023 at Northern Clay Center. In 2024 she received the Pottery Museum of Red Wing award and continues to teach and make in the inspiring community of the Twin Cities. Through reflections of nostalgic memory, Mattson experiences a cathartic process in making and hopes to help those who experience her work recapture and revitalize their present moment in light of their past.
Artist Statement
Junk Portal
A souvenir of future landscapes
Ceramic, foraged junk, epoxy, plastidip 12” x 8” x 6”
Sparks fly when I encounter a vibrant fragment of waste rendered invisible to the average passerby. With an activated mind, I am drawn to the pops of color, values and forms littering our landscape. With these curious shards I amass a library of refuse. Through a repository of found and made objects, I craft a world that seeks to reveal the value of junk cohabitating with us. Working in the framework of play, my practice utilizes found objects and a multitude of processes rooted in the foundations of the ceramic medium. Through my assembly process I create playful ceramic sculptural objects that speak to our current moment of living in the Anthropocene. Living amid ongoing ecological crises involving pollution and global warming, my sculptures operate as micro landscapes finding alternative ways to view detritus, rehabilitating junk through art and aesthetics. In opposition to the fast pace of our capitalistic society built on convenience and disposability, the assembly process of my work is slow. From foraging to constructing, the unhurried observations in my practice enhance and reinforce the curiosity in the environments I inhabit, as I process the decay, beauty, and toxicity of our waste.
Artist Biography
David Morrison was born and raised in Batavia, IL a western suburb of Chicago. He attended St. Olaf College where he received his B.A. in studio art and a concentration in Asian Studies. Upon graduating he was an artistic intern for the summer and fall of 2019 at Anderson Ranch Arts Center. He is a ceramic oriented mixed media artist and earned his MFA at the University of Oklahoma. He is making playful sculptural landscapes that recontextualize foraged junk fragments from junkyards and surrounding environments. He was recently an artist-in-residence at Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT and exhibited work in the 2024 NCECA National Student Juried Exhibition in Richmond, VA. He is currently the ceramics technician at the University of Hartford.
Pensive
Stoneware, cold-finish, copper 8” x 6” x 8.5”
Grocery Shopper
Stoneware, cold-finish, copper, silver 14” x 5.5” x 7”
Photo courtesy of artist
Artist Statement
I am inspired by the endless variety of human expressions that I witness in day-to-day interactions between people. Although human interaction can be made non-verbally through facial cues, the emotion you see may not accurately represent how someone is truly feeling on the inside. By using the figure to communicate my message, I can portray the innate emotion that is put forth and then transferred effortlessly to the viewer. I am striving to toe the line between realism and abstraction. Something that enhances the believability is the surfaces I am striving to create with materials, like milk paint, and different ways of sealing the surface. I am using different finishes to simulate human skin, clothing, fabric, and hair. By incorporating metal into my sculptures, I can give the viewer visual cues to help them imagine the environment the sculpture is in. I am intrigued by the notion that these inanimate objects can be imbued with the ability to communicate with one another and the viewer in a physical language inherent to the human experience.
Artist Biography
Chrystal O’Boyle (she/her) has had a lifelong love of the arts. Born and raised in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Chrystal attended the School of Art at the University of Arkansas and graduated with her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree in art education. In 2018, she became a teaching artist at the Community Creative Center, instructing classes in ceramics, painting, and glass fusing. In the 2021-2022 school year, she completed her post-baccalaureate at the University of Oklahoma studying ceramics. While in Oklahoma, she also worked as a studio school instructor at Oklahoma Contemporary. In 2022-2023, Chrystal served as an Emerging Artist in Residence at Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft. Now, she is pursuing her MFA in Ceramics at SUNY New Paltz in New York. When she isn’t in the studio, she enjoys reading, hiking, and spending time with friends and family.
Artist Statement
I explore the joy of inheriting the legacy of a 150-year-old heritage family farm and historical Scandinavian folk traditions. My forms echo the rich practice of working the land: soft-formed, curving clay walls reminiscent of rolling hills, carved ridges like plow-scraped fields, meet gentle, undulating wave-like rims. Working with my body is a sacred experience. Using a kick wheel is an intuitive, mediative encounter. My feet propel the wheel, capturing the slow, rhythmic movement of my legs juxtaposed by the sharp vertical textures in the form. As I labor with my hands in the clay, I contemplate my ancestors toiling with their hands in the earth, wood, stone, and bone. Researching Scandinavian decorative folk traditions from the 1700’s and historical objects from the Viking-age, I reconnect with my heritage apart from the stories told by a tight-knit family steeped in tradition, dogma, and expectations of conformity. My work unites the farmer and the academic at a common table, evoking a timeless truth: the glorious can be found in the mundane, and the divine in the common.
Artist Biography
Eric Ordway was born and raised near Columbia, MO. He was first exposed to pottery while attending school at Moberly Area Community College in 2006. Eric continued to study clay at Colorado State UniversityPueblo, graduating with his BFA in 2013. In 2015, Eric was awarded a residency at the Morean Center for Clay in St. Petersburg, FL. During this time, Eric also taught ceramics to students at Berkeley Preparatory School, where he discovered his passion for teaching. Eric earned his MFA from the University of Missouri in 2019, and after graduating, Eric taught ceramics at Truman State University for three years. During this time, he also worked at Access Arts, a local nonprofit in Columbia, MO, as the Department Head of Ceramics. Some of his most recent accomplishments includes being selected as a 2023 Ceramics Monthly Emerging Artist and exhibiting his work at the 2023 & 2024 NCECA Annual Exhibitions, and 2024 International Ceramics Competition in Carouge, Switzerland. Eric exhibits his work at the national and international levels. He currently works at University of Missouri’s School of Visual Studies as the Fine Arts Technician & Adjunct Professor and lives in Columbia, MO with his wife, Chelsea, and their dog, Lily.
17.
Sangria Set
Stoneware with flashing slip
12.5” x 13” x 8”
Photos courtesy of artist
Artist Statement
The work resides in the inherited secrets buried within a home - whispers of stories and old wives' tales passed down from previous generations to protect those forthcoming. Women have historically been placed in caretaking and place-making roles, and as a result, have learned the secret favors of these domains. This work investigates the innate and learned knowledge used to survive and protect one another. The ceramic objects offer safe storage; the floral patterns protecting the vessels and their contents by harnessing the usual dismissal of femininity – a camouflage hiding the inherited secrets in plain sight. By activating secrecy as a tool for survival through the physical act of burying, covering, and hiding, the vessels become time capsules of patriarchal resistance for future generations.
Artist Biography
Abbey Peters lives in Iowa City, Iowa and works with ceramics, beeswax, plants, and other collected materials. She received her MFA in Ceramics at the University of Iowa and BFA in Studio Art from the University of Arkansas. She has received numerous research grants to study beekeeping, Victorian herbal remedies and abortifacients, and wallpaper preservation throughout London, UK. She has worked at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Lillstreet Art Center, and completed residencies internationally at laRex l’Atelier in St. Raphael, France, as well as the inaugural CIRCA Exchange in Boulder, Colorado. In her ceramic work, she references domestic interiors, decorative arts, and gardens to explore ideas of matrilineal knowledge and secretkeeping as a tool for survival.
Artist Statement
I am fascinated by the mundane objects that occupy a domestic space. My work has been driven by the appliances, tools, or utensils used within the home that consume our daily lives and repetitive tasks. Drawing from my personal experiences and surroundings with how females operate within the home have slowly become inspiration for the objects that I choose to recreate. These spaces and objects though typically inviting can slowly feel daunting and cagelike though wrapped in a lovely package or pattern. Perceived as archival, I use clay to express my relationship with the home and recreate my interpretation of seemingly common objects.
Artist Biography
Lauren Pinson grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She received a BFA and Art Education Certification K-12 from Temple University's Tyler School of Art and Architecture in 2019. During her stint between undergraduate and graduate school, she was a high school art teacher at Highland School in Warrenton, Virginia. She is currently entering into her third year of graduate school at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Her work has been shown at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia as well as the New Harmony Clay Project in New Harmony, Indiana. In her free time, she enjoys all things true crime as well as curling up on the couch with a good book.
Artist Statement
Dennis Ritter’s work explores the role of common objects –house plants, books, appliances, and keepsakes- as foundational markers for identity and memory. These objects are often juxtaposed with one another to create works that reference domestic spaces, second-hand sales, and the personal collection. Ritter’s sculptures are based in the ceramic medium, digital photography, found objects, and installation. His intention in working with these processes is to create illusions which elude to personal memories and cultural identities. Ritter’s work exists at the blurred nexus of personal myth; an intersection of autobiography, family history, and literature.
Artist Biography
Dennis Ritter received his BFA from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and his MFA from The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Hi work has been shown in galleries and museums throughout the United States including MOCA Georgia, The Wassaic Project, and Kennedy Museum of Art. He has been part of residency programs at Watershed Center for the Ceramics Arts, the Vermont Studio Center, and The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, PA. A committed educator, Dennis has taught at the Tyler School of Art, Alfred University, and at Louisiana State University. He has also taught extensively in community arts programs in Philadelphia with The Clay Studio. Dennis Ritter is currently an Assistant Professor in the Art Program at Berry College where he teaches ceramics and sculpture.
Red stoneware, underglaze, glaze
6.5” x 4” x 8”
Artist Statement
Red stoneware, underglaze, glaze
5” x 3” x 4”
The handmade object is a reminder of what really matters in a world so full of speed, optimization, stress, technology and profit at any cost. We infuse our humanity into the objects we make, own and use. Through them we can find connection. There exists a subtle transference and relationship between maker and user, of ideas, of shared experience, of observation. The objects we pass between hands have the ability to communicate subconscious thought and feeling, reminding us that we are all human, all of this earth, imperfect but alive.
Artist Biography
Karin Rutkin is a visual artist who works in ceramics, illustration and painting. She graduated with a BFA in ceramics from SUNY New Paltz in 2009. She has lived and worked in New York, Asheville NC, and Iowa City, IA. She is inspired by her extensive travels, nature, architecture, science and the metaphysical.
Artist Statement
Tray 2
Mid-range red stoneware, nichrome rod, terra sigillata, underglaze, glaze
My work displays an interest in groupings of similar forms to explore the implication of ritual objects and to celebrate human traditions. As I raise my family, I find it important for me to question the need for rituals in our ever-changing society, whether these ceremonies are occasional or daily. My work is consciously constructed to present and relate to food and its nourishment, potentially connecting nostalgic memories of many to the gathering of families and friends for special events. Historically we see that ritual objects are set apart. My process is a thoughtful conversation about how an object is set apart and how it has the power to create an atmosphere of its own. I want the work to have an intimate presence and invite the viewer to pick up and use the pieces, and therefore have a tactile experience associated with the appreciation of the handmade. Abstractions of landscape and architecture become the conceptual underpinning for my approaches to painterly surfaces, glaze color, and texture. Experimentation and improvisation continue to be important to me as I am repeatedly questioning the balance between the rational and spontaneous making processes.
Artist Biography
Veronica Watkins grew up in the Kansas City Missouri area. She received a BFA from Northwest Missouri State University in 1996; she went on to receive an MFA from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 2000. She now resides on a 100-acre cattle ranch in Maryville Missouri where she takes care of her family, teaches and maintains a studio practice. She is the Associate Professor of Ceramics at Northwest Missouri State University.
Jasper and Sherds
Porcelain
16” x 12” x 12”
Artist Statement
I'm interested in the way a physical collection preserves and forms connections so I can better understand how objects influence an individual's perception of place and identity. My explorations stem from a curiosity of heirlooms, trophy cases, and the debris scattered around my family's farm. This culminates as I consider historical examples of collections and form my aesthetic response, acknowledging the contributing factors that are built upon layers of lived experience and chance. Pulling from both systematic organization and the informal excavations of my surroundings to set the guidelines, my collections show how a grouping of objects inherently forms a narrative through touchstones of personal memory. I utilize mold-making primarily for its ability to borrow from the world, reproducing impressions from slip morphs objects into ghostly echoes, oscillating between the universal and the individual. Practicing different formats lets me play with the role of curation, each time holding a mirror to what I find important, simultaneously reflecting a bit of myself as well.
Artist Biography
Brant Weiland earned his Masters of Fine Art at the University of Iowa, completed a Postbacc program at the University of Arkansas and received a Bachelor of Fine Art degree from Northwest Missouri State University focusing on ceramics and sculpture. He has shown work throughout the U.S. and taken part in residencies at Penland, Red Lodge, OxBow, and Chautauqua. Raised on a farm in Northern Iowa, he has had a lifelong curiosity about his connection to the land and the items that resonate with his family’s story. This has led him to investigate the role of collections, personal heirlooms, and the recreation of objects from memories. He is a frequent traveler and an avid mountain biker, constantly seeking new experiences to share with his partner and discovering the potential his bike tires can yield.
Wood-fired iron stoneware with Levin Shino slip, 3D-printed wadding 11” x 11” x 11”
Artist Statement
Being actively curious is how I approach the planning and making of my artistic work. Curious of materials, effects, processes, and 'what if...' moments. As curiosity has led me through traditional ceramic making methods, curiosity has brought me towards integrating digital technologies with handcrafted methodologies and I am fascinated how the processes influence one another. Hand-made properties guide the digital and the digital technology controlling the physical material. I envision these works a collaboration of physical and digital tools used to create a hand-made digitally influenced object. Admittedly, labeling an object to be 'digitally hand-made' leaves me with a good excited chuckle. After that quick laugh and enjoyment of self -satisfaction, I return to serious enough contemplation that reinforces my artistic drive.
Artist Biography
Zach Wollert (b. 1981) is currently the Assistant Director and Ceramics Chair of the Windgate Art School at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock, Arkansas. Zach grew up in Portland, Oregon and has consistently worked in clay for 25 years. He committed to turn his obsessive interest in ceramic art into a career while working with, and learning from, professional ceramists in the coastal mountain range town of Elkton, Oregon. In 2015, he earned his Masters of Fine Arts in Ceramics from Kent State University and has since participated as a resident artist in Oregon and California. Before moving to Little Rock, Zach was fortunate to live in Cedar Rapids for seven years where the local art community at the Iowa Ceramics Center and Glass Studio as well as Kirkwood Community College sharpened his professional skills.
