SaltLik – New works by Jim Etzkorn

by Carole Epp | Aug 10, 2010 | Uncategorized

Ceramic art show opens in Medalta’s Squared Gallery, August 13

Medicine Hat – On Friday, Aug. 13, 2010 at 7:00pm, an exhibit of new work by ceramic artist Jim Etzkorn will open in Medalta’s Squared Gallery. The show is named SaltLik.
Etzkorn initially arrived in Medicine Hat to take part in a four month ceramic art residency in fall 2009. He quickly grew to enjoy the city and expanded his time here from four months to twelve, with plans to become a permanent resident.

Etzkorn’s primary focus during his residency was to explore the salt glazing process, which inspired the show’s name. Salt glazing is an atmospheric process, which produces unique effects on clay. When the kiln reaches its maximum temperature, salt is introduced, which turns to a vapour and reacts with the silica in the clay. In many cases, it produces an uneven, orange peel-like effect. Etzkorn prefers to use glazes which react with the atmospheric salt to produce subtle variations in colour and texture, producing pots with extraordinary visual and tactile depth.

The most prominent historical use of salt glazing in Medicine Hat lies with the Alberta Clay Products factory, which was a major clay sewer pipe manufacturer prior to a devastating fire in the early 1960’s.

The show will be the last in the current Squared Gallery. In the fall, the Historic Clay District will undergo a major excavation of Medalta’s former Kiln Room, which currently houses the gallery.

Anyone who wishes to attend the show should contact Medalta and ask to be added to the invitation list. Attendance to the event is free of charge, with all donations going to the continued restoration of the Historic Clay District.

The Historic Clay District is one of eight tourism attractors in the Canadian Badlands, featured in AMA’s “Alberta 100 Journeys” and is Western Canada’s largest National Historic Site. The museum – in the Medalta Potteries National Historic Site – provides visitors a unique opportunity to visit a restored 1912 pottery factory, which once produced three-quarters of all stoneware in Canada. It is operated under the stewardship of the Friends of Medalta Society.

For more information, interviews or visuals, contact:
Quentin Randall 403.529.1070 [email protected]
www.medalta.org
www.etzkornpottery.com