emerging artist: Catie Miller
unsettling illustrations animate my ceramic artworks. I choose to draw
portraits of people’s hidden lives, magnifying the people’s features and the
private moments of their lives. Currently, I am exploring
the obsessive collection of things—hoarding, and how this fixation interferes
with the quality of daily life and relationships. Growing up, we had a lot of
stuff; overflowing boxes of papers, small mountains of clothes, and a cat for
every family member. Frequently moving throughout my life has forced me to evaluate
my relationship with my possessions. I incorporate multiple layers of surface
to create a crowded environment for the narrative. Much like hoarding
challenges home as comfort, the addition of exaggerated ornamentation and form
challenges the comfortable feeling of function, engaging the viewer to
contemplate his or her relationship to objects.
Dallas Pottery Invitational
emerging artist: Zach Balousek
kind of ceramic folklore involving peoples’ initial discovery of the
material. Before people fired pots they were a mobile society of basket
makers. As they began to cultivate the land and harvest a greater
surplus of grain they required more containers that would be resistant
to rodents and the open air. They lined their baskets with clay and in a
serendipitous event a fire destroyed most of their
material possessions but left them with some insight. The interior of
that basket became the first ceramic pot. Beyond its potential as a
prototype for their future, in its hardened exterior bore the
impressions of their past. It became a fossil to an ephemeral and mobile
society; a momento to a new culture that would seek eternal life
carving their name in earth.
The range of information this object says about
their society’s soft culture has lead me to find new meaning in our
material culture. If one can deduce that a mobile society produces
impermanent objects from ephemeral materials, and sedentary society
produces more permanent objects from archival materials; than what is to
be inferred from a culture which produces disposable objects from
permanent materials?
Rest in Peace John Chalke
“My interest has remained inconveniently multi-faceted in most things ceramic – from its misty prehistory, when only clay and gods mattered, to the subsequent historical offerings from many lands. Food and tea presentation, clay and glaze research, the art of throwing, the art of handbuilding, kilns, riverside shards, emissivity, the smell of old clay, on and on. The straight path to the studio from the house is necessarily most serpentine some days. Some months of the year, though, make it much simpler. When the days grow warmer I work much more outside, where pots dry more quickly. I become a potter and become familiar again with muscle and ache. From November on, when things are freezing solid outside, body activity slows down and more cerebral struggle takes its place. A farmer might go curling during this time. I suppose I go handbuilding. This sequence has been part of my making for well over 30 years. The only thing I can see that has changed is more honing, more reflection, more revisiting old and new places in my mind, and less guilt about the now petty.”
– John Chalke
a site 2 see friday: Sculpties
About Sculpties
One cold winter day, a piece in progress captured his very own studio selfie, and began a new trend: sculpties.
Hello! My name is Jocelyn Howard and I will graduate in May 2014 with an MFA in Ceramics from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Interested in themes dealing with gender identity, sexuality, public vs private image, duality, and jungian psychology, I enjoy exploring these themes when creating ceramic figures in hopes to create a personal mythology.
When documenting my studio practice and sculptural process, I noticed that the expressions, postures, and characteristics of each figure I created lent itself to being documented in the same way a person would take a selfie. What started out as a humorous documentation of my work has evolved into an exploration that applies the act of crafting self-image through taking selfie shots to literal crafted objects.
When I think about duality, specifically the difference between public and private personas, the first thing that comes to mind is the way in which social media asks two things of us. On one hand, we want to keep in touch with friends and family, let our hair down, and share things that are deeply meaningful in our lives through venues such as facebook, twitter, tumblr, and instagram. On the other hand, we want to curate a professional image that will help further a career. Websites are good for establishing a solidly professional boundary around our public image. But sometimes the line between public image and private image is blurred when an online presence becomes a cocktail of website plus instagram, twitter, tumblr, and facebook.
When I spend time to painstakingly document my work, I am crafting a professional public image for that work. I set it carefully on a grey graduated backdrop, arrange lights to capture every detail, and spend time adjusting each setting on the camera to compose the perfect shot. However, when I create and build my figures, I feel that they take on a life of their own in the studio. They let their hair down. And so, I invite you to join me on this journey of documenting my work behind the scenes. I hope you enjoy getting to know each character when they aren’t posing for my portfolio or getting gussied up for that next show application. And, please feel free to use the submit link to submit your own sculpties!
For each piece’s pro shots, please check out: www.jocelynyhoward.com
Help Rebuild The Peters Valley Noborigama Kiln
March, 2014
Dear Friends,
We need your help. Our Noborigama Kiln has been damaged after the structure that shelters it collapsed due to the weight of this winter’s extreme snow. We are in critical need of funds to help rebuild the collapsed structure and repair the kiln damage.
We ask you to please consider making a donation towards this effort.
Time is of the essence as we use this kiln not only for our regular workshop season, but also for special firings that help bring in critical funds to the program in our off-season..
We are firmly committed to rebuilding and repairing the damage.
The Peters Valley Noborigama kiln was built by the famous duo of Will Ruggles and Douglass Rankin during a Wood Kiln Construction and Firing workshop that they taught on our campus in 1992. It was then featured in an article they published in Studio Potter, Volume 22, Number 1 titled ‘The Rock Creek Climbing Kiln Part II’ and has become a huge draw for our program.
We estimate that we need to raise $20,000 to properly rebuild and repair the damage.
“In the few weeks since the collapse of the roof over our two-chamber wood kiln I have received many phone calls and messages of support. Needless to say, I’ve been struck by the generosity shown toward the School and the Ceramics Department in particular. Please know that we truly appreciate whatever amount you’re able to give.” Bruce Dehnert, Ceramic Studio Department Head
Any donation of $75 or more will receive a Peters Valley T-shirt as a thank you.
Your donation will go a long way to helping us restore this critical piece of our ceramic studio. With your support, our unique kiln can continue to benefit a diverse and inspired group of people from students, to artist instructors, studio assistants, artist fellows, resident artists, and Peters Valley visitors.
With Sincere Gratitude,
Kristin Muller Executive Director
Peters Valley School of Craft,
19 Kuhn Rd.,
Layton, NJ 07851
(973)948-5200
www.petersvalley.org
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