Under the Black and Baltic Deep

UNDER THE BLACK AND BALTIC DEEP

UNDER THE BLACK AND BALTIC DEEP SEPTEMBER 21 – NOVEMBER 4, 2018 Northern Clay Center Minneapolis, Minnesota ESTONIA Kris Lemsalu Leo Rohlin Anne Türn LATVIA Diāna Boitmane-Liepina Dainis Pundurs Juta Rindina LITHUANIA Ieva Bertašiūtė-Grosbaha Danutė Jazgevičiūtė Egidijus Radvenskas Curators: Sarah Millfelt and Robert Silberman Exhibitions Liaisons: Tomas J. Daunora, Juss Heinsalu, and Ieva Naglina Curatorial Advisor: Anthony Stellaccio Editors: Elizabeth Coleman, Franny Hyde

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FOREWORD Sarah Millfelt Executive Director

Under the Black and Baltic Deep has been a long time coming. Suns and moons ago, I was introduced to the unknown talents of numerous Baltic clay makers via an exhibition and residency series spearheaded by potter/teacher Richard Spiller, made possible by the Anderson Center in Red Wing, Minnesota. Spiller, a long-time practicing potter and Emeritus Professor of Art at Eastern Carolina University, curated Contemporary Baltic Ceramics: Gifts from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at the Anderson Center, in 2012. The show brought together makers from each country and enabled a few Baltic artists to travel for residencies to the charming little town of Red Wing. I met many of these makers, through Spiller’s generosity of time and spirit, as he was passionate about connecting these makers to Clay Center audiences. Through Spiller, I met two of NCC’s exhibition liaisons, Tomas J. Daunora and Juss Heinsalu, and one of our participating artists, Dainis Pundurs.

What followed was my increasing interest in the contemporary ceramics scene in these countries. With an opportune spot in NCC’s exhibition schedule and support from exhibition committee member, Robert Silberman, NCC was

poised to pursue examples of three generations of ceramic artists from each of the Baltic states — Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. But, we needed a bit more help.

Anthony Stellaccio, NCC’s summer 2017 McKnight Artist Resident, had presented his research on Lithuanian ceramics at NCC a dozen years ago. Stellaccio is an artist and scholar, educated in both fine art and folklore. Currently the Executive Director of Studio Potter, he continues to work around the world as an artist, writer, researcher, filmmaker, curator, and educator. Most notable among his professional accomplishments are two US Fulbright grants, a book on Lithuanian folk pottery, two documentary films, more than thirty articles on contemporary and historic ceramics, and a position as international coordinator on the board of Artaxis. Stellaccio’s NCC residency enabled faceto-face conversations about the Lithuanian ceramics scene and additional resources.

Tomas J. Daunora has a long history as a curator and project coordinator for Baltic, Polish, Chinese, Ukrainian, and Russian travel and symposia. With an MFA in ceramics from the Vilnius Academy of Arts in Lithuania, his relationship with the Academy has been long and rich. He currently serves as the Head of the Ceramics Creative Center there, in addition to serving as Manager and Executive at Gobis/ Ceramics Centre, with his wife, Justina. His own ceramic art is part of collections in Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, and the US, and has been part of major symposia and exhibitions across Europe. Daunora’s work in academia and the greater Lithuanian ceramics community made him an amazing, on-theground resource.

Juss Heinsalu was a graduate of NCC’s inaugural year of its MN NICE program. He then received his MFA degree at NSCAD University in Halifax, Canada, and had previously studied at Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn. He lives and works both in Nova Scotia, Canada, and in Estonia. An active participant in various projects and exhibitions across Europe and North America, Heinsalu is one of the current organizers of Kohila Symposium, an annual international wood-fire

residency. His youth, international travel, and connections secured access to top makers in Estonia.

Finally, via recommendation by Dainis Pundurs, I was introduced to the curator of exhibitions at the Riga Porcelain Museum in Latvia — Ieva Naglina. An artist and curator from Riga, Latvia, Naglina has a Master’s degree in graphics from the Latvian Academy of Art. She’s been on staff at the Riga Porcelain Museum since 2011; and she’s been leading a non-governmental organization — Chamber of Graphic Art — since 2012. In addition, Naglina is a conductor of the broadcast Subjective Measurements, airing on radio NABA, which highlights the visual arts.

For over a year, these talented individuals gave of their time and connections to provide a vast selection of Baltic artists for inclusion in this exhibition. Extending invitations to potential participants, seeing to proper translation of our desired work and materials for the exhibition, and managing the moving parts of the international shipping were enabled with ease given our Baltic friends’ resources and rapport with the artists. In early 2018, we secured our exhibition roster and the next nine months were spent planning and negotiating details. Ultimately, our roster included three artists from each of the three countries, representing three generations of makers — those whose training and professional careers began in the Soviet era, those who are children of the postSoviet world, and, finally, the “post–post-Soviet generation” of makers.

In addition to several newly-commissioned works and the loan of others made by these prominent artists in the past few years, the exhibition prompted a three-week visit to the Clay Center by Ieva Bertašiūtė-Grosbaha, who spent intensive days creating intricate sculptures that were installed both in and out-of-doors at NCC. Anne Türn had a short visit in conjunction with the opening reception, where she joined the three exhibition liaisons and our curatorial advisor and the co-curator for a panel discussion, which was held at the Norway House in Minneapolis.

These artist and liaison visits and the exhibition itself were made possible by the

generosity of our exhibition funders: Continental Clay Company, the Prospect Creek Foundation, and the Windgate Charitable Foundation. Additional support for this exhibition was made possible, in part, by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, and by the Lithuanian Culture Institute, through the Lithuanian Culture Attaché to the US, Mrs. Gražina Michneviciute. Kris Lemsalu’s work was made available by Temnikova & Kasela gallery in Estonia.

And, this activity was made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund, and a grant from Wells Fargo.

In addition to the generous dollars, the show truly wouldn’t have become a reality without the steadfast contributions of several other individuals.

In this case, this cast of characters includes my co-curator, Robert Silberman, to whom I extend sincere thanks for his investment of time, eyes, and words. The editors of this catalogue — Elizabeth Coleman and Franny Hyde — thank you for your time and talents. To my exhibitions staff — Emily Romens, Galleries Coordinator, and Tippy Maurant, Director of Galleries and Events — I am indebted to you both for extending to me the respect, patience, support, and kind words you would to any other curator. Without your skill and creative vision, the show would still be living in my head and on my computer. From the dramatic color and lighting, to complex solutions for installation inside the galleries (and on the roof!) — you far surpassed expectations on every level, and you did so with great cheer and nimbleness. Finally, thank you to the artists themselves for taking a chance on a ceramic art center in the Midwest. I am honored to have had the opportunity to work with you and on your behalf.

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Installation view

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Robert Silberman

UNDER THE BLACK AND BALTIC DEEP On August 23, 1989, a human chain extending 420 miles linked the Baltic republics of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, as approximately two million people joined hands. This peaceful demonstration, known as “The Baltic Way,” celebrated the resistance to Soviet rule less than three months before the fall of the Berlin Wall. It presented a visible sign of what, in 1991, was to become the reborn independence of the three states and a new era in the lives of their citizens.

The three Baltic republics are often linked together, whether in relation to the events of World War II and the Cold War, or to their current situation as former members of the Soviet bloc. All are now independent, yet remain vulnerable, given uncertainty concerning NATO’s mutual defense agreement and Russian saber rattling, which can involve troop movements or more modern forms of intimidation such as cyberwarfare.

In political, social, economic, and cultural history, as in the specialized case of ceramics, it is important to acknowledge differences — Lithuania is mainly Catholic, for example, while Latvia is mainly Lutheran — as well as shared characteristics.

The three countries all have long and complicated

histories that may be of interest primarily to those with personal ties to the countries, specialist academics, and aficionados of historical maps.

Livonia, anyone? Today that may sound too close to fictional Hollywood concoctions such as Fredonia or Zenda. But it marks one important piece in the changing jigsaw puzzle of the territory now occupied by the three countries, whose symbolic significance as guides to European history far exceeds their size. In the nineteenth century, all three countries participated in the rise of nationalism and exactly one hundred years ago, in 1918, all three established themselves as democratic republics before experiencing twists and turns that included more authoritarian regimes. Then came the great disasters of the 1930s and 1940s, beginning with the Soviet-German nonaggression agreement, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which in 1939 secretly divided Europe and ultimately led to Soviet control of the Baltic countries.1

Being caught between Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II was tragic for all three countries. In Lithuania, more than 95% of the Jewish population was wiped out during the Nazi occupation. 140,000 Latvians fought with the notorious Nazi Waffen-SS, while other Latvians fought with the Soviets; and after the war, over one hundred thousand Latvians were imprisoned or deported to the Gulag, while 500,000 Soviet residents were introduced to Latvia. In Estonia, where resistance to the Soviet regime persisted into the 1950s, the percentage of native Estonians decreased by one-third. Such Russification is one reason the relationship between the Baltics and post-Soviet Russia remains so fraught. There is a constant threat that Russia might claim the need to come to the aid of an oppressed Russian population, as it has in Crimea, and as Nazi Germany did in the annexation of the so-called Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia as part of the infamous Munich Agreement. Emigration figures point up the unsettled state of the Baltics. Over a million Lithuanians live abroad; the domestic population is approximately three million. In recent years, the balance for Lithuania appears to be shifting from emigration to return, although for all

of the Baltics, the relationship between homeland and diaspora remains an open question.

Geopolitics are unavoidable in any discussion of the contemporary Baltics, but fortunately there are other, less ominous aspects to consider. Estonia, for example, has earned the tag “e-Estonia” because it is such a high-tech, wired country, the home of Skype and three other “unicorns,” tech companies valued at more than one billion dollars each. Tallinn has become the new Prague, a tourist destination with a historic Old Town and a hip, youthful atmosphere. From the time of The Baltic Way to the present, the Baltics, while not untroubled, have revealed above all a spirit of independence. And that spirit of independence, coupled with a renewed sense of artistic adventurousness, is on display in contemporary Baltic ceramics.

Ceramics in the Baltics reveal the same complexity and richness as the countries themselves. There is no single Baltic way in ceramics, although given the small size of the three nations, it is no surprise that one shared characteristic is a strong sense of community. Each country has a long ceramic tradition extending far back in history and including folkware, as well as functional and sculptural work in more modern styles. The Soviet era marks a clear generational dividing line, so that now there are those whose training and professional careers began in the Soviet era and those who are, so to speak, children of the post-Soviet world, with a third, even younger “post–post-Soviet generation” now on the scene.

That generational division is represented by the trio of artists from each country in this exhibition.

Anne Türn notes that during her time in school, the education was far more restrictive: students were forced to take a course on the history of the Communist Party, and many pedagogical elements of the art curriculum were controlled from Moscow.

The result was that, in her words, “We were rebelling against everything; there were so many things that were not allowed, thus we were playing on the edges.”2 In his history of Estonian ceramics, Leo Rohlin notes how the most advanced work done in pre-Soviet ceramics was branded “formalist”

and replaced by a mandate for “socialist content in ethnic form.”3 The work of younger artists such as Kris Lemsalu, Diāna Boitmane-Liepina, and Ieva Bertašiūtė-Grosbaha belongs to a strikingly different world.

Each country reveals a ceramic landscape that has changed over time, but in the last century or so has included large industrial-commercial ceramic enterprises responsible for creating building elements, functional and decorative domestic objects, and even tourist souvenirs; smaller-scale potteries and group studios; educational institutions with ceramic training programs, usually aimed at commercial production; and independent artists engaged in more personal work, ranging from relatively conventional creations to more avantgarde experiments.

One of the defining characteristics of the contemporary work is its sense of freedom, an openness to any and all approaches. No longer bound to proscribed political and stylistic formulas, artists are free to follow local and national traditions — or global trends. Pre-Soviet Baltic ceramics appeared in pre-WWII international expositions. After the war, but well before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the international recognition attained by Peteris Martinsons (1931– 2013), a central figure in Latvian ceramics, helped pave the way for a general internationalization of ceramics in the Baltics. International symposia and other gatherings have contributed to a strong sense of community and engagement with ceramics and ceramicists around the world. Many Baltic artists now travel widely and show their work abroad: Diāna Boitmane-Liepina currently lives and works in Vienna, while Kris Lemsalu is based in both Berlin and Tallinn.

Alfred Lord Tennyson, the great British poet, provided the title for this exhibition in his melancholy, even morbid poem Maud, known for a lyrical section beginning: “Come into the garden, Maud,” and for its celebration of war and military virtues. The poem was written around the time of the author’s more famous The Charge of the Light Brigade, and the narrator, after Maud’s death, chooses a martial life as destructive self-surrender

1 The Baltic Way organizers chose the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the secret protocol for their protest.

2 Anne Türn, Artist statement, 2018.

3 Leo Rohlin. Eesti keraamika ajast aega (Tallinn: Eesti Kunstiakadeemia, 2007): 343.

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as much as self-realization. The Baltic may, as Tennyson’s narrator has it, be dark and deep, and the Baltic countries may still be shadowed by the threat of war. It is clear from the art in this exhibition, however, that Baltic ceramics reveal the full range of expressive possibilities and represent not Victorian gloom, but a brilliant contemporary spirit.

ESTONIA

4 Ibid.

5 “Leo Rohlin,” New Ceramics, March/April 2012, 25.

6 Türn, Artist statement, 2018.

7 Ibid.

8 Andrew Berardini, “Punk pagan trickster feminist sci-fi shaman Kris Lemsalu,” Mousse 64, Summer 2018, http://moussemagazine. it/kris-lemsalu-andrewberardini-2018/.

Leo Rohlin began as a prototype designer and glaze technician under the Soviet regime — which he said, had “an almost ruinous effect on Estonian ceramics.”4 Inspired by seeing sand mandalas created by Buddhist monks, he applied his formidable technical skills to works that feature thousands of small, handmade, ceramic elements.

The three works in this exhibition feature the colors of the Estonian flag, but beyond any patriotic statement and the technical tour-de-force, they offer a study in perception that recalls the work of pointillist painters such as Seurat. Ultimately, Rohlin’s art brings together the materiality of ceramics and what his former student and colleague, Ingrid Allik, calls the “cosmic geometry”5 of the designs to produce a transcendental vision.

Anne Türn says she used to make “small crazy things” — including figures that let her carry an entire exhibition in her backpack — but now she makes “big crazy things.”6 They aren’t really crazy at all, of course, but they do show her delight in playing with materials and with testing limits, as she has moved away from pure ceramics by incorporating glass and fiber optic lighting elements. The results are never simply technical experiments. They are poetic expressions inspired by nature, as Türn’s description of Lights suggests: “It is about the dark nights in August, when you look at the sky and the stars are falling. When you see a star fall, you can make a wish. But if there are so many of them you only wish it would never end. The rain of light. This work is alive.”7

Kris Lemsalu is a wild card in any group.

Andrew Berardini’s description of her as a “punk pagan trickster feminist sci-fi shaman”8 pretty much says it all. Her work is mixed media and then some:

she once created a giant porcelain tortoise shell and appeared in the gallery as the tortoise, with her hair, arms, and legs poking out. 3 of Life includes ceramic elements for the limbs, with strange multiple-hand finger extensions, and for the animal jaws and teeth that define the heads. But there are also real raincoats, the shag carpet that stands in for the faces, and a fan. Although the work might seem like a cross between Singin’ in the Rain and the Scream movies, there is plenty of reason in Lemsalu’s apparent madness, as the punning title suggests. 3 of Life is weird, funny, outlandish, puzzling, grotesque, and above all, unforgettable.

LATVIA

Juta Rindina’s sometimes impish imagination can open up a fantastical world. Some sculptures recall folk tales and the folk traditions in Latvian ceramics; others suggest purely personal creations.

Either way, Rindina’s recent work renews the figural tradition and redeems it from any unhappy, Soviet-era dullness by creating sculptures of females that are enchanting, even noble, and fancy free, with a sense of pose, gesture, and stylishness worthy of choreographers Jerome Robbins and George Balanchine. In Rindina’s art, each element contributes to an overall lyricism, as in the designs that enliven the surfaces of the exotic Three Dancers by invoking textile stitchery, and in the curves that arc and swoop through the forms in Girl in a Beautiful Dress.

Dainis Pundurs’ dramatic works incorporate intricate structures — the title Honey Mania makes clear the beehive analogy — within their human forms. As the viewer moves, the impression of the work shifts, from open to closed, from light to heavy. The blend of the human and non-human seems especially notable now, when the classical figure, whether from Greek sculpture or another artistic-cultural tradition, is at play against contemporary versions of the human form, as in the computer-generated cyborg figures in the movies. Pundurs’ monochromatic sculptures offer both dynamic grace and the strangeness of science fiction creations, with the geometric and the organic brought together in a striking, forceful balance. Yet

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for all his serious concerns, the artist recalls with delight his childhood experiences, and says “To this day clay is no more than a game to me.”9

Diāna Boitmane-Liepina’s father was a musician, and some of her works involve sound: one is titled Metamorphosis of Sound in Space and another Porcelain Music. Those titles also indicate her fascination with metamorphosis and her devotion to porcelain (she has her own brand, Malka Porcelain). Often, she combines the pure whiteness of porcelain with the graphic blackness of images imprinted on the surface. But in Molecular Metamorphosis, like Paula Winokur in her great series of glacier and ice core works, Boitmane-Liepina exploits the resemblance between ice and porcelain. She draws upon the mythological associations of water as feminine and shapeless, along with ideas of oneness, birth, and rebirth, to present an enigmatic grouping of objects that are at once abstract sculptures, icy pillars, and elements in a conceptual play concerning physical changes of states worthy of another of her heroes, John Cage.

LITHUANIA

Danutė Jazgevičiūtė is, appropriately enough for a Baltic artist, enthralled by the sea. She says that a work such as Sailboat translates what she sees into forms, and in particular into abstract shapes that capture her “impressions, moods, and experiences.”10 The way the complex linear surface designs, the different colored areas, and the unusual physical forms come together may recall modernism in general and cubism in particular, but Jazgevičiūtė has developed her own visual language — jazzy, energetic, surprising. It combines the representational, with recognizable heads and feet, and the abstract, in the more puzzling forms, with both aspects revealing a distinctive way of seeing the world. Jazgevičiūtė’s art always embodies more than formal pleasures, however, as when the artist notes that in Sleeping Beauty she is paying tribute “to women’s beauty and independence.”11

Egidijus Radvenskas begins with the most matter-of-fact ceramic elements, basic refractory

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bricks, and introduces glimpses of the human face, including that most famous expression of all, Mona Lisa’s smile. He sometimes adds unusual, scavenged elements that he describes simply as “rusty metal objects.” The results, in spite of the rust and the irregularity, possess an undeniable elegance, as well as a monumentality arising from the echoes of antiquity. He says, “I try to catch things lingering in the air. In wrestling with [the] material one discovers ideas.”12 Why not place a porcelain egg in the middle of a rusty metal “nest,” especially when it seems so right, so at home there? In Radvenskas’ work the elevated meets the mundane, with tantalizing, enigmatic results.

Ieva Bertašiūtė-Grosbaha handbuilds vessels that feature photographs of family members. These beautifully crafted works suggest a post-modern update on traditional woven baskets or coil-built ceramics, with porcelain providing a historical foundation. Bertašiūtė-Grosbaha also uses this painstaking approach in sculptures that, like so many Baltic works, reveal the influence of nature, often with cobalt blue adding its own associations from ceramic history. The lozenges at the heart of the process serve as basic building blocks — though more like fish scales than Legos. It is important to Bertašiūtė-Grosbaha that the process is slow and time-consuming, set off from the frantic velocities of contemporary life. Sometimes she moves out into the world, with ceramic architectural elements that inject a playful artistic provocation into the ordinariness of everyday existence, as in the audacious work installed on the roof of Northern Clay Center so that it appears as if it had suddenly crash-landed from outer space.

9 Dainis Pundurs, Artist statement, 2018.

10 Danutė Jazgevičiūtė, Artist statement, 2018.

11 Ibid.

12 Egidijus Radvenskas, Artist statement, 2018.

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LITHUANIA Ieva Bertašiūtė-Grosbaha

Ieva Bertašiūtė-Grosbaha is currently pursuing her PhD in fine arts from the Vilnius Art Academy in Lithuania. She formerly earned her MA in ceramics from the Vilnius Art Academy Kaunas Faculty of Arts and her BA in applied ceramics also from Kaunas. She is currently an artist-in-residence as part of the WILD symposium at MoKs Center for Arts and Social Practice in Mooste, Estonia.

Her ceramic work and installations have appeared in numerous exhibitions in Lativa, as well as in Lithuania, Korea, Norway, and Portugal. She says, “My artwork is about searching. I do not intend to find, I do not want to. The process of searching, the excitement in it, the fear, the happiness, the disappointment and the sadness, that’s what interests me most.”

Ieva Bertašiūtė-Grosbaha Untitled, 2018 Porcelain, plastic 88” x 12” x 12”

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LATVIA Diāna Boitmane-Liepina

Born in Riga, Latvia, in 1982, Diāna BoitmaneLiepina has studied stage design, graphic art, and ceramics. She received her BA in ceramics and her MA in graphic art at the Art Academy of Latvia.

She sought additional tutelage in ceramics from the University of the Arts Bremen in Germany.

Boitmane’s ceramic work employs minimalist aesthetics and conceptual approaches to the material. Her portfolio in clay includes oil lamps, vessels for the table, pipes, as well as porcelain sculptures, and mixed-media installations. In addition to her ceramic sculptures, and under the business name of Malka Porcelain, she creates custom figurines, brooches, and graphic artworks.

Boitmane currently lives and works in Vienna, Austria.

Diāna Boitmane-Liepina From -15 to +1260 Nr. 1 - 7, 2018 Porcelain 8.75” x 48” x 15”

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LITHUANIA Danutė Jazgevičiūtė

Danutė Jazgevičiūtė graduated from the Lithuania State Institute of Art in 1969 (now the Vilnius Academy of Art). She has been an active participant in symposia and group exhibitions since 1976, with some 10 solo exhibitions, and a presence in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Croatia, and Italy. For 26 years (1990 – 2016), she was a lecturer at the Culture and Arts Education Institute at the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences. Her ceramic sculptures have been the recipient of numerous awards included 3rd Prize at the Exhibition of the Baltic States in Riga, Latvia; a diploma at the 5th Triennial of Small Ceramics in Zagreb, Croatia; and 1st Prize of Professor Liudvikas Strolis at the 3rd Vilnius Ceramic Art Biennial in Lithuania. She currently resides in Vilnius, where she works in her private studio on ceramic sculpture and installations, drawing, and paper arts. She says of her influence, “The most important experience and encounter is nature and people surrounding me. I analyze what I see and create forms that I think about and translate into abstract shapes. Thus, I communicate my ideas through forms, colors, and surface textures, and I create objects prompted by the impressions, moods, and experiences. Especially I like to analyze the works of old masters. Creations of the impressionist and post-impressionist artists had a most important and strong influence in my development as an artist.”

Danutė Jazgevičiūtė Together, 2018 Clay, engobes, glaze 23.25” x 8.25” x 10” (left), 21.5” x 8.75” x 9” (right)

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ESTONIA Kris Lemsalu

Kris Lemsalu currently splits her time between Berlin and Tallinn. She studied at the Estonian Academy of Arts in Tallinn, at Danmarks Designskole in Copenhagen, and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Her ceramic installations combine porcelain sculptures cast in the form of animal or human body parts or objects of clothing.

She incorporates myriad other materials such as fur, plastic, wood, and rubber. The works can stand alone or be part of larger performances in which Lemsalu acts and sometimes collaborates with musicians. “Maximalist, visceral, and sexualized, Lemsalu’s pieces evoke the wild, bestial side of human beings and civilizations, and are underscored by feminist themes.” (https://www. artsy.net/artist/kris-lemsalu) Her recent exhibitions include solo and group shows in Vienna, London, Glasgow, Bucharest, and Prague.

Kris Lemsalu 3 of Life, 2017 Mixed media 81” x 175” x 61”

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LATVIA Dainis Pundurs

Dainis Pundurs has been an associate professor in the ceramics department at the Academy of Arts in Latvia since 2004. He received his MA from that Academy, in 1998, after studying ceramics and after attending the Rezekne Art Secondary School in eastern Latvia. Pundurs has exhibited his sculptural vessels across Europe at such sites as the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Riga, Latvia; at the Mark Rothko Art Centre in Daugavpils, Latvia; at the Gobis/Outdoors Expo in Vilnius, Lithuania; in Mungjong, South Korea; at the Decorative-Applied Art Museum of Prague in the Czech Republic; as well as in Poland, Norway, Germany, Denmark, and Estonia. He works primarily in stoneware and porcelain and says of his work, “A magician makes the object emerge all of a sudden and out of nowhere, like in a magic trick. ... Alternatively, the gardener grows the object by carefully tending it, thereby reducing the risk of mistakes in design by liberating oneself from immoderate inclination. ... My strongest inclination is to tend my work like the gardener.”

Dainis Pundurs Honey Head, 2012 Stoneware 17” x 10” x 5”

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LITHUANIA Egidijus Radvenskas

Egidijus Radvenskas studied design at the Vilnius Fine Arts Academy from which he graduated in 1985. His work has been included in 12 solo exhibitions and his group exhibitions total over 100. He has extensively participated in symposia and residencies around the world. Radvenskas has served as a technical assistant to the Panevežys International Ceramic Symposium since 1989 and has been a designer and organizer for the Panevežys Civic Art Gallery since 2010. In his ceramic work, he finds material to be of greater importance than ideas, often combining refractory bricks with other materials such as clay, wood, and metal. He “employs irony and sarcasm in my artwork, not with a purpose of preaching, but in order to bring up some painful questions.”

Egidijus Radvenskas Hidden Beauty, 2018 Refractory Brick 15” x 9” x 10”

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LATVIA Juta Rindina

Juta Rindina tells stories through her figurative compositions, which read like make-believe theatrical sets complete with props and characters.

She often employs porcelain, stone, and other mixed media into her works. Additionally, she is a maker of utilitarian objects. Self-expression is paramount in her work and she’s been making for some 50 years. In the late 1960s, she attended the Riga Secondary School of Applied Art and later studied ceramics for five years at the Latvian Academy of Art. Her solo and group exhibitions have featured her works in such countries as England, China, and Denmark, as well as her native Latvia. In 2016, Rindina received honorable mention as part of the Latvia International Ceramics Biennale. She currently resides in Riga, Latvia.

Juta Rindina Three Dancers, 2012 Clay 15.75” x 8” x 10.5”

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ESTONIA Leo Rohlin

Leo Rohlin was born in Tallinn, Estonia, in 1930.

He studied ceramics at the Estonian State Art Institute, graduating in 1965. For 37 years, he was a senior lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Arts and head of the department of ceramics between 1974 and 1984 and again from 2000 to 2005. Rohlin has been an active exhibitor throughout Estonia and across Europe, with 14 solo exhibitions. He is a recipient of an Order of the White Star 3rd Class, an Estonian State Culture Award, and an Annual Award of the Estonian Cultural Endowment. His work was featured in the March/April 2012 issue of Neue-Keramik. Rohlin’s ceramic mandalas are incredibly time intensive in their creation, often formed from thousands of smaller ceramic elements, each of which is made by hand, bisque fired, glazed using a pipette, and then sprinkled with a powdered cobalt oxide. These “spangles” are later glued onto screw-heads and attached to wooden boards. Rohlin is inspired by his early observation of the creation of large sand mandalas, made by Buddhist monks in Tallinn.

“This process left an undying impression within me” he says, and it became a source of inspiration for his future work.

Leo Rohlin Visions IV, 2009 – 2014 Wood, screws, glaze 38.5” dia. x 3”

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ESTONIA Anne Türn

With an impressive exhibition roster that includes international solo and group shows in such countries as France, Germany, Korea, China, and Lithuania, Anne Türn is an Estonian-based artist. From 1984 to 1994, Türn pursued studies at the Tallinn Art University in Estonia and Kassel University in Germany. She was awarded “Ceramist of the Year” in 2011 in Estonia. Her body of ceramic work is vast and seductive in surface, with sculptures that take on an animal-like feel and are often placed outside and photographed in situ, akin to a landscape photographer’s capture of an animal in its natural environment. Her “indoor” work can include multi-media “Valgusobjektid,” or light sculptures, that marry porcelain, glass, and hundreds of fiber-optic light strands.

Anne Türn Lights, 2017 Porcelain, optical fiber 59” x 8” x 8” (2) 31.5” x 8” x 8” (5) 29.5” x 4.75” x 4.75” (1)

NORTHERN CLAY CENTER

UNDER THE BLACK AND BALTIC DEEP

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NORTHERN CLAY CENTER

NORTHERN CLAY CENTER

Northern Clay Center advances the ceramic arts for artists, learners, and the community, through education, exhibitions, and artist services. Ongoing programs include exhibitions by contemporary regional, national, and international ceramic artists, as well as historical and architectural ceramics; classes and workshops for children and adults at all skill levels; studio space and grants for artists; and a sales gallery representing many top ceramic artists from the region and elsewhere.

Staff Sarah Millfelt, Executive Director Tippy Maurant, Director of Galleries and

Special Events Emily Romens, Galleries Coordinator

© 2018 Northern Clay Center.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For information, write to: Northern Clay Center 2424 Franklin Avenue East Minneapolis, MN 55406

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund, and a grant from Wells Fargo.

Additional funding for Under the Black and Baltic Deep comes from Continental Clay Company, Prospect Creek Foundation and the Windgate Charitable Foundation.

www.northernclaycenter.org

Board of Directors Bryan Anderson Nan Arundel Mary K Baumann Craig Bishop Heather Nameth Bren Evelyn Browne Nettie Colón Sydney Crowder Nancy Hanily-Dolan Bonita Hill, M.D. Mark Lellman Patrick Kennedy Kate Maury Brad Meier Debbie Schumer Rick Scott Paul Vahle

Honorary Directors Kay Erickson Warren MacKenzie Legacy Directors Andy Boss Joan Mondale Director Emerita Emily Galusha

Manufactured in the United States First edition, 2018 International Standard Book Number 978-1-932706-48-8 Unless otherwise noted, all dimensions: height precedes width precedes depth.

Additional support for this exhibition is made possible, in part, by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia and from the Lithuanian Culture Institute through the Lithuanian Culture Attaché to the USA, Mrs. Gražina Michnevičiūtė.

Unless otherwise noted, all photographs are by Peter Lee. Design by Joseph D.R. OLeary, VetoDesign.com.

2424 Franklin Avenue East Minneapolis, Minnesota 55406 612.339.8007 www.northernclaycenter.org