by Carole Epp | Jul 26, 2014 | call for entry, emerging artist, job posting, monday morning eye candy, movie day, residency opportunity, show us your influences, technical tuesday
JESSICA
HODGSON
Growing up on a conventional family
farm in Southwestern Manitoba, I was raised with a fundamental respect and
understanding of the environment and our food. After moving to Winnipeg
in 2006, I was surprised by how quickly I lost this sense of respect. No
longer getting my food straight from the garden or neighboring farms, I lost
touch with the understanding I once took for granted,
as
it became easier and more acceptable to drive to the supermarket and fill a cart
with convenience.
At a point where the public is
becoming more aware and more alarmed by what is being labeled as food, I often
find myself disturbed and confused by the information we are surrounded
by. Coming from a farming
background surrounded by companies like Monsanto, paired with a concern for how
safe many of the foods we are eating actually are, I find myself on a slippery
seesaw of what is right and what is safe.
Frustrated by the topic, I designed
the Stratum line in reference to the
mysterious layer of chemicals, control and deception that seems to be veiling
our food system today. Typically the white surface of sterility that
covers functional dinnerware is comforting and customary, providing us with a
smooth, safe surface to present our food.
In Stratum however, this white
surface is only superficial, draping over dark, organic sections, masking them
in uniformity and perceived appeal.
by Carole Epp | Jul 9, 2014 | Uncategorized
Opening
Reception: Friday, July 11, 6-8pm
Exhibition
Dates: Friday, July 11 – Sunday, August 24
Artist
Talk: Thursday, August 14, 2014, 7pm
Pewabic will open a
new exhibition with new work from Darien Arikoski-Johnson and Monica Wilson. Manufactured Mementos explores the
methods in which memories are created, catalogued, and later
retrieved. Inspired by the digital recording of moments in time, Darien
Johnson’s work questions the process in which we create and remember
experiences.
“My
work represents the current entanglement of human cognition and digital
processing. The recent
proliferation of the camera-phone enables us to record spontaneously. Experience is interrupted to capture
and store moments. The recordings
are used for recollection; however, over time our reliance on the two-dimensional
image to replace perceptual experience flattens and fragments the memory. By dissecting and altering these
fragments, my work raises awareness of a continually altered state of visual
consciousness. It makes reference
to a shift in contemporary experience relating to the cognitive processing of
sight.”
Darien
Arikoski-Johnson received his BFA from Saint Cloud State University, Minnesota
in 2002. He received an MFA at Arizona State University in 2009. He was an
artist in resident at The Experimental Pottery Workshop, Jingdezhen, China and
at Guldagergaard: International Ceramic Research Center, Skælskør,
Denmark. A.-Johnson’s work has
been in national and international exhibitions such as “Ink and Clay 34,” CA,
“Concordia Continental,” MN, and “Generously Odd: Craft Now,” KY. He was an NCECA emerging artist at the
2012 conference in Seattle, WA. He has also been published in 500 Ceramic
Sculptures, Surface Design for Ceramics, and Ceramics Monthly. His sculptures can be found as part of
the following public collections, the Mesa Arts Center, Mesa, AZ; California
State Polytechnic Collection, Pomona, CA; and The Ceramics Research Center,
Tempe, AZ. Darien is currently
working out of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Monica Wilson
utilizes manufactured materials on ceramic organic forms to stir up
recollections of times past.
“My work is influenced by
the constant push-pull between the organic and the mechanical, variation in
physical and psychological weight, and the process of working with a malleable
material and firing it to an inflexible object. Recent works combine memories with materials: plastic grapes
from my mother’s Thanksgiving cornucopia, a crawdad’s hidden black egg cluster,
and nostalgic surfaces like flocking, wax, rubber, and concrete. Combining distal products, such as
porous terra-cotta with vitrified porcelain or hand-made objects with new and
reused manufactured materials, is a springboard for my current work.“
Monica Wilson was born and raised in Colorado and
now lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she works at Studio Camelot, Clay
Gallery, and the Potters Guild and teaches art at Summers-Knoll. She has
traveled extensively in India, Morocco, Jordan, Pakistan, Argentina, and
Brazil, where she did documentary video and
photography
with a paleontological team. Her work is influenced by these travels —the
similarities between different cultures, the passage of time— and how
they interact with her memories of specific materials, events,
and places from her mid-west upbringing.
Monica Wilson graduated from Eastern Michigan
University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in ceramics and sculpture, and
was an artist-in-residence at the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony (Woodstock, New York), Siena Heights University (Adrian, Michigan), Kripal Kumbh Pottery (Jaipur, India), and Brigham
Young University (Provo, Utah).
Wilson will hold an
artist talk on Thursday, August 14 2014 at 7pm at Pewabic. She will also lead a
special workshop as part of Pewabic’s Vistit
Artist Series. Her
workshop will focus on lightweight
mold processes and include demonstrations and lecture. Registration for the workshop can be done online or by calling 313.626.2062.
ABOUT PEWABIC:
Pewabic, founded in
Detroit in 1903, is a community of makers, educators and innovators devoted to
progressing ceramics. We are a non-profit business dedicated to making ceramics
relevant and accessible to all by supporting artistic innovation and creating
meaningful learning experiences. We achieve this through a rotation of
contemporary ceramic exhibitions, adult and youth educational programs, and the
handcrafted production of Arts & Crafts era ceramics. We encourage the
public to tour our National Historic Landmark pottery for free during regular
business hours, M-S from 10am-6pm and S from noon-4pm.
by Carole Epp | Jun 21, 2014 | call for entry, emerging artist, job posting, monday morning eye candy, movie day, residency opportunity, show us your influences, technical tuesday
The artist statement addresses my Clay-Animation.
ARTIST STATEMENT
The
images of fables are reflections of the potentialities within every one
of us. Through contemplating fables, we evoke their powers in our own
lives. The narrative intention of a fable is the moral fiber of my work.
I cherish the cycles of yearning and atonement, which reveal the
radiance of a characters personal discovery. It is within this cycle
that an audience can see a characters ability to navigate the struggles
beyond a visible plain of existence. To simply exist is, of course, a
part of the characters role. Though, I’ve selected clay-animation as a
means to manipulate clay as a material, wherein I can indicate a greater
life value for my ceramic objects.
In other words, through clay-animation my characters act-out beyond their vitrified existence.
Jarring
that frozen sense of existence, I am able to jolt a characters
narrative awake and document their existence through short film. Though
it’s for a gnat’s-breath of a moment, my characters experience life.
They relate and understand the world beyond physical objects. The
characters become bearers of messages, beasts of burdens, and ultimately
allow us to contemplate the potential within their fable.
Check out a few more videos here:
website: http://www.randiobrien.com
by Carole Epp | Jun 20, 2014 | Uncategorized
The Ceramics Ireland International Festival 2014
5th – 7th September
Grennan Mill, Thomastown, Kilkenny
Put
the dates in your diary, we are looking forward to hosting the festival
again and will be updating information as artists are confirmed
Demonstrators at this years festival
Just confirmed NEIL READ – IRELAND
Shozo Michikawa – Japan, Grainne Watts – Ireland, Sergei Isupov – Russia/USA, Lisa Hammond – UK
