Entwined: Bethany Krull and Jesse Walp @ Indigo Art

by | Apr 23, 2017 | Uncategorized

ENTWINED

“We met twelve years ago in art school and since that time, our lives and our artistic practices have ebbed and flowed and intertwined.  Over the years we have often had the opportunity to make sculpture side by side in shared studios, and this closeness led us to create work that, at times, has been both conceptually and formally tied with our respective works each containing influences of the other’s. The relatively new role we now share as parents has brought us together in a much more profound way, where in both life and art, we are not just influencing each other, but truly collaborating.

Jesse Walp

“The aim for my sculpture has always been for it to feel as if imbued with life, like it has grown into existence of its own volition.  These forms suggest plant growth and also borrow from the animal realm with outstretched stems, plump clusters, and layered segments.  As I create these pieces, I am inspired by thoughts of the internal energies and processes that bring natural forms into being, and hope these works promote exploration and elicit discovery.  As a man who spent his childhood in a home built deep in the woods, I feel an urgent need to foster in my children an understanding of how compelling, beautiful and complex nature is, especially because their early years are being spent in a house, on a postage stamp yard, within a concrete landscape.  Though squeezed within the confines of the built environment, the dandelions pushing up through the cracks in the sidewalk, the rolly pollies underneath the rock in the backyard, and the decaying log in the park still play a very significant role in their understanding of the natural world.”

Bethany Krull

“The influence of motherhood has made its mark on my work, and the animal figure has become much more personally symbolic to me since I have had children. The hungry baby bird, and the furless and helpless newborn mouse perfectly embody this season of my life, where nurturing and protection are paramount.  Explorations of the beauty, vulnerability and fragility of the natural world, and our species influence on its degradation go hand in hand with a desire to shelter my children and to ensure their blissful ignorance as they are threatened by countless dangers.  Concerns about the morality of our politics, the health of our environment, and our own species’ ultimate survival are amplified when they are seen as a reflection in the eyes of our children.”

Show is up April 21 – May 27 @ Indigo Art in Buffalo NY

 

 

The 31st Annual 30 Ceramic Sculptors Exhibition

by | Apr 14, 2017 | Uncategorized

Margaret Keelan “Pose with Dog” glaze with clay

April 18th-May 13th, 2017
Opening Reception Friday April 28th, 7pm-10pm

The John Natsoulas Center for the Arts will hold its 31st annual gallery-wide 30 Ceramics Sculptors exhibition in concurrence with the California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Arts (CCACA). The exhibition will run from April 18th to May 13th, 2017. This show was first conceived in 1986, a collaboration between the late Robert Arneson and John Natsoulas, and continues the ceramic traditions made famous by instructors and students of the University of California, Davis Art Department and the University of California at Berkeley.

Since its inception over three decades ago, the 30 Ceramic Sculptors annual exhibition has grown congruently with the ceramic art world in Northern California. Decades ago there were few major ceramic programs at the Junior, City and State College levels. Today we are experiencing a sculptural renaissance in the ceramics programs of Northern California – new and exciting ceramic sculptors are becoming established.

30 Ceramic Sculptors is the largest annual exhibition of ceramic artists where you can see every variation of ceramic sculpture imaginable. This survey of ceramic sculptors includes everything from figurative to abstract, monolithic to miniature all in one place.
Explore the exhibition and you will discover work as varied as the minds who made it. Some work gives homage to the earth, source of clay, with raw organic texture and emphasis on mass, volume, and dynamic thrust while industrial processes have become the emphasis for others. The 31st annual 30 Ceramic Sculptors brings together an impressive group of ceramic artists with practiced rooted in diverse cultures, experiences and education from around the world.

In conjunction with the 31st annual 30 Ceramic Sculptors annual exhibition is the 29th annual CCACA. This conference brings the
ultimate ceramic sculpture event to Davis, CA from April 28th – April 30th, 2017. In an intimate setting, you can interact with top artists
in a way not possible at other venues. Enjoy delightful downtown Davis and be inspired by nationally recognized ceramic art talents. With over 40 participating schools from throughout California, CCACA is one of the largest and most diverse ceramic events in Northern California. Demonstrations, lectures and student exhibitions—no other event delivers more inspired knowledge of ceramic sculpture for a better price. Meet face-to-face with distinguished ceramic sculptors you might only read about; see and hear from the artists what makes them top in their field. This is a chance to surround yourself with the top ceramic art and artists of today and the ideas of the artists of tomorrow.

Press Contact: Nancy Resler [email protected] 530-756-3938
More information: http://natsoulas.com/

exhibition: TALISMAN – Magiske objekter

by | Feb 28, 2017 | Uncategorized

Med denne udstilling er der lagt op til et
sceneskift af de helt store på CLAY. Kunstnergruppen VERSUS skaber en
totalinstallation, der iscenesætter deres keramiske objekter i ét
sammenhængende kunstværk. Gennem scenografi og arbejde med lys og skygge
vil publikum blive inviteret ind i et univers, der understreger
objekternes magiske karakter, og giver beskueren en flerdimensionel
oplevelse.
En talisman er en ”magisk genstand”, som
tillægges evnen til at gøre noget godt for den, der bærer den. De har
været brugt i religiøse eller ceremonielle sammenhænge langt tilbage i
menneskehedens historien – og i keramikkens. Faktisk regner man den
ældste kendte keramiske genstand i verden, en ca. 26.000 år gammel
Venusfigurine, for at have været en talisman for frugtbarhed.
Ideen om, at ting kan have særlige egenskaber,
trives også i dag, f.eks. når man har en lykkemønt i kommodeskuffen, et
særligt vedhæng til halskæden, en god sten i lommen eller et mantra, der
messes for at holde styr på den mentale balance.
Kunstnergruppen VERSUS vil med udstillingen
præsentere et bud på en moderne talisman i en keramisk kontekst og
derigennem bringe spørgsmålet om tro og irrationalitet ind i vores
nutidige, rationelle tænkning.
VERSUS består af Ane Fabricius Christiansen, Camille Rishøj Nielsen, Lea Mi Engholm, Mariko Wada og Sissel Wathne.

(via google translate) This exhibition is set for a scene change of the greats in the CLAY. The artist group VERSUS creates a total installation that stages their ceramic objects in one continuous piece of art. Through set design and work with light and shadow, the audience will be invited into a universe that emphasizes the objects’ magical character, and gives the viewer a multidimensional experience.
A talisman is a “magic object” conferred the ability to do something good for the one who wears it. They have been used for religious or ceremonial contexts far back in human history – and in ceramics. In fact, it is estimated the oldest known ceramic object in the world, approximately 26,000 years old Venus figurines, for having been a talisman for fertility.
The idea that things may have special properties that thrive even today, for example. when you have a lucky coin in the dresser drawer, a special pendant necklace, a good stone in your pocket or a mantra that messes to keep track of the mental balance.
The artist group VERSUS will the exhibition present a proposal for a modern talisman in a ceramic context and thus bring the issue of faith and irrationality into our contemporary, rational thinking.
VERSUS consists of Anne Fabricius Christiansen, Camille Rishøj Nielsen, Lea Mi Engholm, Mariko Wada and Sissel Wathne.

claymuseum.dk/udstilling/talisman-magiske-objekter/

CLAY
KERAMIKMUSEUM
DANMARK
Grimmerhus
Kongebrovej 42
DK-5500 Middelfart
+45 6441 4798
[email protected]