Lisa Tixier is my name

Amanda Delaplane is my inspiration. @thewireflower is my instagram.

[amandadelaplane-blog]

This also was a gallery. no.3

Well, this was a gallery I was able to go to. And this exhibition I believe was enough to put it on the map! 

But, why is taking time to go out into the world and look at art so hard? Well, because we are so busy making and thinking in our own little bubble, but oh well. I have hight goals to visit a lot more galleries and museums before I graduate!

This week in the Earl and Virginia Green Gallery on campus I had the privilege to witness and engross myself in the work of Jedidiah Angkasa and Sean Leone. It has been amazing to watch their process and now see finished amazing work on display for the whole world to see in the gallery. It was completely different seeing someone’s work who I had been (slightly) invested in before an actual exhibit was a really neat experience for me much less them.

The layout and how they fit so much work was part of what I want to take from their show. Since last week when we landed on show partners and have a solid date for our own shows, the logistics of the gallery space, how the work exists, lives in there and in with other’s work and in the limited space we have, yet wanting to create as much work as I can, having an open feeling, a full feeling, yet not a bad overwhelming feeling. It was nice seeing the gallery filled full with just paintings on the wall, though I wont have any paintings on the wall, it was the feeling that I enjoyed. Seeing how they transformed the space into a space of beauty and contemplation, insight and ideas, emotions and color, was inspiring. 

This was the first time with thoughts on my show I saw the gallery so open. As I want to have floor pieces in mine it was really nice to see the space and how it works with the walls filled with paintings as well. The positioning of the two L walls was ingenious as well, and will definitely take into consideration that layout when talking with my own show partners a little down the road. Visualizing potential in this space my pottery, Wesleigh’s and Kaila’s paintings was really exciting. This spurs me on in my work!

Their work each lends to my thoughts and work in its refined sophistication. I believe that word fits here. Each piece claimed its space, its attention, yet added to the whole exhibition as one piece. They worked together, contrasted, informed and stood on their own each. I am finding the words, as I am figuring out the words for my own art and my goals of emotions, this helped with some feelings in finding what I want. (very vague but things will come together and be revealed soon.)

[amandadelaplane-blog]

how much more to update, isn’t the semester over yet.

Well, I did some documentation, with a lil nicer camera and backdrop, of some pieces this week. So that was exciting. still need to go into the lab and edit some but I got images! 

Not necessarily looking at the whole pot but various aspects of them, I wanted to capture textures and colors, these unique things in/on the pots, except I really need to edit these a little and not just use screenshots!

Everyone askes when I’m going to sell stuff and its so hard, because I want to yet I don’t feel like I can give anything away until my show is all prepared for and happening. Because, never know which one I’m going to really want. But I do want to start more production to sell, but the show is way more important. Each form is lending to my craftsmanship and ability to create and stockpile of pots to narrow down for my show. 

I might start selling as I raise a few funds to purchase more clay and materials.

[amandadelaplane-blog]

i guess here’s some goals.

Goal = Make all of this into pottery forms = go

but here’s some other ones:

Write lists of words of feels, goals, desires, of what I want my art to be about, goals in feelings. 

Look at things around that are conveying emotions I desire in my work, (or don’t desire). And think about the ways they are doing that and how I want my pottery to be interacting and present. 

Throw 10 things before I leave for Christmas, (and 20 the first week of 2018, when I return) and carry that momentum forward into the new semester, top heavy and throwing, glazing later after a couple weeks at the start of the semester. 

Prepare clay, (and clean up well) don’t forget to factor this in, prepare a lot of clay each week.

Research pottery, throwing and the concepts and other artist Keep making , plugging along.

[amandadelaplane-blog]

how do your social identities relate to your work.

It took me a long time to figure out how to answer this question, and I still don’t really know what to say. My work is not really focused on identities or people, but those things do play into the work of anyone. Everything that we do, are involved in, people we are surrounded by, classes we take and study, the family and heritage we were gifted with, the God who we follow, make each person unique in their relations to social identities and in turn shape who we are and so incidentally affects the creative work we make. I don’t really know how my social identities directly relate to my work, but I do know that I want to make things that can bring joy and use to others, whoever they are. I don’t want my work to be reliant on my social identities, but be work that whoever can relate in someway to and use, appreciate and enjoy. 

[amandadelaplane-blog]

Influence no. 3

Florian Gadsby’s work I see constantly on social media and it seems every time, I stop to look. His work is incredible and his posts are amazing. But before I know it is his, I love it and realize why, because it is Gadsby’s. I haven’t really had something like that with an artist before, there has been work I totally recognize as someone’s, or someone’s I really love, but not every time marvel an aspire.

Part of it is his documentation of his work, beautiful set ups and lighting, not to mention his actual pots. He does have a general theme in glazes, have a select few that he uses. The shapes and way his pots are made are telltale to him.

Gadsby writes so much about his process and the way he sees his work and what is going on in his environment, that it is so easy to follow him, his process and story. I have learned a lot of what I love about clay from seeing his work and reading his posts. His work allows for him to be unique yet consistent. He makes numerous productions of work, hundreds of a bowl, consistent in look and size, yet each one is different because they have a been each hand made, repeated and perfected, yet still individual and unique. Yes, a lot of art is this, duplicating and repeating, but imperfectly, but there is something about the way he does it in pottery.

He has been studying and mastering his practice for a number of years that I admire his engrossed dedication. He talks about his process with each work, thought there are hundreds and thousands of things he has made he talks about them as “aim[ing] for functional pieces, while keeping a delicate and quiet aesthetic.” All these things influence me and I am wanting to push into in my work so much as well! I strive to have the dedication and engrossment in my work that he does, pushing and learning, finding opportunities, growing a business and following.

http://theartofplating.com/news/florian-gadsby-searching-for-functionality/

This article he is interviewed and we are brought to attention most of the things I already listed above. Between his own development of learning and creating, to his methodology of making so that others would find joy in using what he has made, he has a beautiful way of communicating. This seems like such a comprehensive article about his work, I have read it and bookmarked it to go back and keep reading and finding new things from him. I love how he appreciates the practical functional use his work receives as well as the aesthetic and beauty it brings in images and showing in galleries.

[amandadelaplane-blog]

reminder update:

Christmas is coming soon.

(just installing my pieces places. Also, trying to think if I need all my pottery as potential in my show, and so would have to leave it here, or can I to take any home to my family..) Don’t worry, we’ll keep making. Or at least I will keep making. Production has not stopped! :) 

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studio reconfidence update

I get stuck on things a lot. Stuck in thought, caught up in questions of the unknown. Not knowing how to progress from there a lot of times happens. I get stuck on things,  then freaked out, so I need to go back to making, because I think I can do that. I just forget to step back and then press on with things. 

A few studio visits helped clear up the air after my presentation. So that was good. Feeling some more confidence coming back. I guess I need to keep learning from myself and what I’m being told. 

So, I just need to keep narrowing down from the broad depths of ideas to what I actually am most interested in right now and let my work be a part of that. I was told to make with confidence yet not rigidity basically. I can have goals, but let the work be the work and keep pressing into it. Okay, Seth. I know there never really is a completed state for art. But it can be complete enough for ideas and a show. 

So, I know I need to make more work. This mini fridge is no where near full. Should I have a whole fridge in my show? :) 

And, I really do like these flower/messed up/ fun looking ones. And I like the wall, but don’t have to be dead set on it, but it might still work out with using the wall. 

And, in the back of my mind I am thinking about the presentation and this idea of the relationship of pottery to things and the gallery and not having white boxes. And the idea of containers, how that relates to this pottery (though not necessarily the basket, but it was a picture I could use.)

These aren’t really new ideas, they are just clearer ideas. I am refining from my ideas, and keeping motivation and instigation. 

[amandadelaplane-blog]

a studio of thanksgiving.

God doesn’t need us to be profound. He wants us to create, glorify him and find joy; In my art work too. Who knew that I am profound enough if I just say that I am doing this work and it is about joy, and it is about glorifying Him with my desire to create, and play. That is what I want to do!

But this week during Thanksgiving I was able to see some of my relatives and had opportunities to talk a little bit about art, finding ways to express my thoughts and what I know about it. I realized how special I was to be in this program, I am learning so much, discovering how to create beautiful things, to talk about, communicate with, to question, and sometimes understand! and just to add to the world; to be complemented in my work and also questioned and made uneasy, because answers are hard to figure out a lot of the time. 

I am thankful that I have found something that I do love to do, even though I still get frustrated at it a lot and feel like it will take me forever to be efficient with my hands and clay, to become a ‘professional’. But I do love the process, or I have been learning to love the process and value it so much. And maybe someday I will be a ‘professional’. (it has ‘’ because I don’t even know what that really means.) I love being able to make things to give to my family and to use myself. To create new things and pretty things that can be used in multiple ways in the world is such a joy.

[amandadelaplane-blog]

studio thoughts

Lining up the work and seeing kind of a them, the colors, the shapes, the ideas, with a little more clarity this week. So, that is helpful as I am refining and collecting thoughts on my work and ideas. There is a color pattern, so I realized how important glazing is to me. The bright colors ( yes bright, i like the word bright, bright = intense + cheerful ) are part of what draws me to the forms and the work. 

I have been thinking about my work and the value I have for it. There is something between the relationship, the relationship between success and failure (without being to cheesy, hopefully). But I am interesting in the value. I want the value to be the same in my works, throughout my works. No matter what happens to them, they are finished and complete. 

Now with these random bowls, what is their purpose and function? What do I want for them. I guess no matter what happens with them, they have taught me things and have succeeded in some way. But do all of these specifically go into my show, and specifically, um, how? or do these specific ones inform what I create next (well, they do), or are these part 1 of more processes that will be made and shown?

[amandadelaplane-blog]

studio up to yesterdate.

Practice presentations have been the focus. I keep going back and forth between confidence and being completely overwhelmed. But mostly being overwhelmed. Who are the artist that are influencing me most? And why are they so hard to figure out? What past work relates anyway to what I am doing now? And why doesn’t it all seem to relate? We’ll see I guess. (its not all that bleak though, just feels like it, and not much has changed this last week in my studio space.)

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that other critique.

So, after weeks of figuring out how to best document my work in the spaces that we have available to us, I finally had to show something for what I presented.

The first image: how the works were laid out in a space together (never mind the extra background equipment).

Next 6 images: close-ups of: Untitled | ceramics and found objects pedestals.

Next image: Untitled , raw clay, bisque ware, glazed ceramics, 2′ 6″ x 2′ 6″

A refinement or focusing in on from the 6 small works project, (but maybe perhaps still an expansion).

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influences, supposedly no. 2

It is so hard to find artist that really feel like they are the best one, someone that stands out crazy to me. But having to talk about just one, Arlene Shechet is a sculptor, in who I have been finding things that I want to be doing in my work, ideas that are the same conversation I think I want to have, and the actual product work that is very different from the conclusions of work I am getting to, but still helpful! Arlene Shechet’s “clay-based vessels evoke the tension between control and chaos, beauty and ugliness, perfection and imperfection.” And I feel like that is something I am exploring to an extent with my clay. Relationship is the word I used in one of my artist statements, the relationship of control and uncontrolled, perfection and imperfection. She is reacting in a very abstract way, and I feel like I am exploring another rout with that.

Along with thinking about specifically what forms to make I have been thinking a lot about presentation. Something Arlene focuses on that I want to strive for in my work is the idea of these objects are more than just objects they are part of an installation, and she is wanting them to be interesting in all angles and displays while showing the core idea of what she is exploring.

http://www.phaidon.com/agenda/art/articles/2017/october/09/arlene-shechet-why-i-create/ 

Here is one article where Arlene talks about her interaction with the clay as experimental and a means to reflect strength and vulnerability. That idea of imperfection and playful exploration of ceramics is a part of her work too. Every artist wants to make work that people want to stop and look at, and Arlene has been exploring various types of sculptural means to achieve that. She says that, “The challenge is not playing it safe which can sometimes be very difficult.” Which is embracing and exploring the imperfections and the representations they entail and somehow the thing representing the human condition.

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studio update, its okay to keep making pottery and not just ceramics.

I’ve been working on making more functional and “normal” dishes lately and seeing what comes out. In my attempts to make perfect things, I only getting various levels of imperfect things. How do I want to talk about and display or emphasize those flaws but still show that it is worth something, it has a purpose. 

But then, don’t forget about color in all this form stuff! I am still trying to figure out what I want color to be in my work and how I want it to function and be. Because I love color so much!

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another gallery, or two or ten. report no. 2

This last Saturday once again Amanda and I ventured to find some inspirational galleries. Entering many and realizing how amazing our class and classmates are. We kept finding work that connected in a way to almost everyone in our class’s work, whether in style, material, conception, exploration, vibe or feelings. But I did find some things that where helpful and I would like to consider in my work. 

https://www.blumandpoe.com/exhibitions/lynda-benglis 

At the Blum & Poe gallery, Lynda Benglis ceramic work was displayed very nicely. For one, I immediately appreciated how the sculptures were all at various heights, it helped break up the traditional, sterile, plain, eye level look. That is something I have been trying to find in artists’ work that do subtle things like that to bring more interest. She did it very well. Also, how the work was bunched and yet spread out, so basically the layout of the space, was intriguing to me.

On closer inspection of the pedestals, I realized that another reason they didn’t stand stark to me was because they were basically just whitewashed wood, not completely covered smooth with sterile white paint, and not just clean wood, but in-between. There was something about that look that made me just really comfortable to be around them, there was a vibe of homeyness in a way.

Another aspect I enjoyed was the glazes and how it was done. The way glazes are the main contributing factors to the mood and feelings of the work I think is super cool. That is something I am kind of experimenting in my work too.

Another gallery we went to that I saw something similar to the ideas I was considering about pedestals and wood and how to do it. So here is an image from the Underground Museum that I wanted to throw in the mix.

[amandadelaplane-blog]

You work with various materials, how do you go about choosing them, what is your criteria.

What a great question. Well let me start with thanking you for the assumption that I do use multiple materials, then let me explain. The beginning of the semester I decided to dedicate myself to making ceramics, so using clay is the main material that my work consists of, and it wouldn’t be pottery with out it. Though I do use a few different kinds of clay. Choosing what type for what I am making, I try and stay with my theme and what I have been working with in the past for the particular project or form, or grouping. But what does get tricky is glazing; what colors and combos to choose and how to apply them is always a struggle for me. Though, that question is more accurately what colors does your work consist of, not what materials, though I feel like each glaze is a different material, because they are all so uniquely different and beautiful and fun to work with. 

I have considered adding various other things to the clay, so that would be “various materials”, such as glass or metal, or burnable things, like wood, fabric, or paper, but I haven’t decided if I want to go into that realm because it is so different than what I am doing. 

This question is even more valid when I am thinking about the presentation of my work, when talking about what we call pedestals. That material I feel like plays into my work and something I need to figure out what my criteria even is so I can best go about choosing and so best display my work. So a work in progress to answer this question to its full extent. 

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studio update, or life comparison.

Does my ceramics relate to other aspects of my life and things I do? Luke made some connections for me that I have never thought to connect before. Two huge aspects of who I am is being an artist and a swimmer. With both I have to work hard and train to become better, putting in the work and effort to see what comes out, but if you fail or something happens, you just have to get back up and keep going, like in all of life. But there is something with “pushing the limits of control”, and always trying to improve, the daily practice. Is the value in those things, the everyday, the little improvements, that leave me with sore muscles and off-center pots? What am I putting my value in in both of these parts of who I am? So, in what am I getting value out of in each of them? What do I want others to see in my efforts? Daily investment and practice, pushing the limits of control. 

How can I have these various aspects of who I am inform each other? How do I give myself equally to them? How do I keep integrating the most important aspect of myself into them as well: My relationship with Christ, my Savior. 

This post is a little late from when I started typing it up. Belated studio update, trying not to let these 2 demanding things fight for my attention, but using them to help each other. (...and the struggle to figure it all out continues. :) ) 

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studio updates, what was going on around here.

I’ve was struggling this week tying to figure out what I am interested in, if its pottery as a vessel and if so what kind of vessel and how do I interact with it, or what other ways do I view pottery and appreciate its purpose. So I’ve been playing with the usefulness and obscurity of what I already have. 

But still making thinking of forms to make on the wheel, I’ve just been keep having at it with classic cylinders. What to make next? how do I keep pushing into something I already have going, but still making new work?

But then jumping to what I have and felt like where finished pieces, except in the way of presentation and conception. I went back to what I had and tried to figure out different ways to inform the pieces or to change them up and realized how much the surroundings inform the piece and so what the art means. 

So just a lot of experimentation. Good thing that’s fine to still experiment for the second crit! as I am finding what I am most intrigued by.