-山脈陶芸 - eclectic collection of visual inspiration

"serramica"

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Joe Gregory is a local Kansas City artist. He works in a contemporary realist painting, he is also currently being exhibited at the Leedy-Voulkos Arts Center gallery. Joe is fascinated with the human figure--most, if not all of his paintings, depict humans at many stages of their lives, including death. He enjoys working with narratives, however, he purposely avoids over-killing them with details, so as to leave the rest to the spectator's imagination.

I was particularly fascinated with his skull babies (that's what I kept calling them during the show). This image doesn't really show it, but I'm particularly fond of the sort of tenebrism he incorporates in some of his paintings--they become very serious, almost macabre. This particular painting doesn't really express this quality, but it does a great job of communicating a feeling of loneliness, and even confusion. The sort of greenish, beige haze, and the rain around the conjoined twins sets them in the middle of an unknown, unsheltered place.

I love this set of paintings because of their ability to create literal narratives, that are not necessarily in-your-face obvious. I am personally fascinated by illustrative narratives, perhaps I have never really pushed myself in the realm of 2-dimensional art. I would love to learn to illustrate in the way Joe does, moreover, I would like to learn to create compositions like this.

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This 'lil guy here is a replica of an ancient Japanese Shakōki-dogū (or simply, clay doll) from the Jōmon era. For the most part, their original purpose is unknown, but these dolls seem to be representational of a god or goddess.

This was one of my very first explorations of the ceramic medium while during my freshman year in high school. Through most of my life, i have been obsessed with plasticine (oil-wax clay). Instead of toys for my birthday or Christmas, I would just ask for boxes of the stuff. I loved it, but its impermanence often made me unhappy--It would melt away during hot summer days (or it would get squashed).

It wasn't really until high school that I actually realized a hidden passion for the 3-D medium. I would find myself trying to stay after school to work on projects, I would even take them home, stay up late working on them, and bring them back to school for firing. 

This doll, however brittle ceramic might be, embodies the permanence of my fondness for ceramic. I actually never even considered art as a career. Up to a few weeks before I applied to the Kansas City Art Institute as an undergrad, I had never really been aware that art was a career. Two weeks before school started during the fall of 2011, I still thought I would be going to Kansas State University for chemistry or cultural anthropology (I was actually already enrolled). For one reason or another, I decided to cancel that plan, and now, I am here, as an Fine Art major. 

This Dogu even acquired a personality of its own. It has been in each of my studios throughout high school, and every semester at KCAI. It even has "battle wounds." The chips are from moving it from one place to another everywhere I go, the broken pieces are from a bad car accident--when I used to carry it in my car. 

At any rate, I see this little doll as a literal mark in space, of when this part of my life began. A life, full of adventure, learning and impermanence.

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I am particularly fond of this rosary, circa 1950's. As plain as it might seem at first glance, It is one of my most valuable possessions; my great grandma "gave" it to me while my mom was still pregnant. My sentiment for it has developed stronger over the years, not only because it is representational of the faith I grew up in, but because it has given me much enlightenment of my own, aside from my religious beliefs now. I would like to think of it as a family heirloom.

When I moved to the United States, from Mexico, 12 years ago, It was one of the few possessions that managed to tag along with me. To this day the clothes and toys I brought with me are long gone, yet this remains. I'm fond of it because it marks an immensely important time in my life. A time reminiscent of when I left all my family back in In a country I can barely remember. All my friends; all my close relatives; all the things I owned; all the places I ever knew; gone. Only the future remained.

Sitting atop my headboard, it watched me struggle with a language I did not understand for a long time. It watched my feelings, all shocked by foreign customs. This item watched me fall--and begin to rise from anguish and confusion. Throughout the course of many years it hung there, while I assimilated, until I could see no clear line of what I had become, what I had lost, moreover, what I had learned. There is a saying for people in that state of flux, "ni de aquí, ni de allá," neither from here, nor from there. That is, until one day, the rosary under all that dust heard me call myself "American."

Did I mention it glows in the dark?

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This piece in the collection is one of a kind; this was the very first piece to be created via modern technology. It was first virtually designed, then a positive was carved--from which a plaster mold was made. The first thing noticed was how much this form reminisced a cumulus cloud--a fluffy sheep in the sky. Although seemingly bottom-heavy, this porcelain-cast object is as light as a feather! Strangely enough, the second thing I was delighted by were the shadows cast by each protruding sphere. It reminded me of this image:

These are cosmic filaments, that is, a macro-view of the way in which matter is arranged within the observable cosmos. In this image, as opposed to the object, spheres are created from the void--they present themselves in the form of dark spaces, absent of matter and energy. 

Perhaps what set me on the cosmic mindset was the ethereal image of a luster-decal baby surrounded by cell-like blobs. The sphere cluster near the bottom of the form makes it seem as though if it were airborne. The shadow cast underneath it is almost unimportant, as the blobs seem to fight and push the form away from the horizontal surface. 

Initially, one might thing the purpose of this form is as a tumbler, to hold liquid or something of the sort. This potential functional quality is quickly rendered null--the top is enclosed by a concave surface that could perhaps hold something small and precious. A sort of shallowness paralleled by holy water receptacles. 

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This demonstrates a recurrent fascination with the conical shape. Although square in composition, each side has a contour reminiscent of a leaf-- a shape aesthetically tied to Middle-Easter, Indian, and Southeast-Asian culture and art. This association with the leaf is strengthened by the autumn-like color palette--dark cinnabar, jade green, and auburn yellows.

After carefully analyzing this tile, I discovered that each quality built up on the previous one to create an overall sentiment of death and ruin. Perhaps not in the sense of the melancholic or macabre, but of time passing and decay-overcomming. The next element that captured my attention, beyond color, was the texture of the surface. It looks as though it has been weathered, like age-old sandstone, or even fungus crawling over a tree trunk.

A very eventful and vibrant form of decay.

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As soon as I walked into the Ken Ferguson Collection my eyes geared toward this piece. The reasons why I think I was so captivated by this incredible piece are interesting in their own right. First and foremost, I was fascinated by the form of the jar. I find bulbous objects, such as these roots of the Aconite plant, very organic yet dynamic.

It is perhaps because of that immediate association that I chose the object. One of the reasons why I find these conical forms so appealing, is the concentration of volume on one end--a volume that becomes compressed to an infinite point. This, to me, creates a very strong sense of direction. I imagine a bulb underground, pointing down to the earth, as a magnificent organism spurs out the other end.

But what sealed the deal was the texture cloaking and embracing the form. I am a total sucker for geometric textures--this one in particular because the process of overlaying a pattern on a form so voluptuous requires meticulous planning and visualization. This process reminded me of mosque domes, some of which required highly skilled architects, as well as complex calculations:

Even though seemingly organic and sporadic, both in the piece from the collection and the mosque dome of Sheik Lotf Allah motifs follow a sequence of order and repetition.

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Michael Eden's recent work are constructed by means of 3D printing. One of the questions that most impacted his work were "How to combine sophisticated 3D machinery and specific knowledge regarding digital technology with manual ability and experience?" He combines the process of 3D printing, with semi-liquid clay casting in order to create uniquely textured, but classical forms. His colors consist of non-fired non-ceramic materials, allowing him to work with very intense color schemes, such as this fuchsia.

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Yasumasa Morimura is an appropriation artist born in Osaka, Japan. He re-creates paintings and embeds his own face into them. By pacing his self-image into these paintings and photographs, he re-imagines the narrative, as well as context of these works. I find these revision of the works fascinating, not only because it is visually interesting, but because Morimura manages to cross cultural, gender, social status and art history barriers all in one work. 

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Jennifer McCurdy is a porcelain artist with a strong interest for dynamic form and pattern. She begins her process by throwing a form, she then alters it and incises into her work to create impossible-like forms. What I find fascinating about her impeccable work is the ability with which she details her pieces, rendering them fragile, but at the same time so balanced. Normally, color is one of the first things that catches my eye, however, in this case, I find the lack of color breathtaking. The patters and dynamic textures are more than enough.

(Posted 10/15/13)

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Although not a 'contemporary' artist, Japanese woodblock-printer, Natori Shunsen was one of the last great illustrators of traditional Japanese theater, active from 1915 to 1958. An extremely exclusive artist, Shusen only sold latter part of his artworks via subscription only. He was able to capture the dynamic qualities of traditional prints, however, placing special emphasis on the face and costume. He would very accurately capture the actors' expressions, so as to convey a specific event of the play. He very intricately detail much of the actors' costumes in an attempt to make his prints vibrant with pattern and color--perhaps why I find his prints so fascinating. 

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Omar Victor Diop was born in Dakar in 1980. Since his early days, Omar Victor Diop developed an interest for Photography and Design, essentially as a means to capture the diversity of modern african societies and lifestyles.​ His interesting color choices are inspired by traditional African wax-resist dyed fabric, as well as their patterning.  In his series of works titled "Fashion 2112, Le Futur Du Beau" He projects his idea of what he believes fashion will be like in a distant era. Using everyday man-made materials framing the human body, he expresses a future in which synthetic materials will affect our beauty standards and relationship with the world. 

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During 2012, Artist Misty Gamble offered a course titled "Body as Canvas" wherein (as the title suggests) she proposed the idea of treating the human form as a space where works of art could grow from, be made in, and ultimately presented. 

Sculptor and Special Effects artist Laura Tyler is heavily inspired by the cubism movement. Using various different materials, she sculpts forms into and from the human body--transforming it into a work of art. Her designs are often accompanied by by a macabre atmosphere.

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Hopelessly infatuated with pattern--and the endless languages that a surface can communicate--I found a strange affection for Matthew Chambers' unique wheel-formed pieces. Although there no bright and decorative elements, or textured surfaces, Matthew can very effectively create patterning through manipulation and re-arrangement of the edges of his thrown forms. Even if simple in form, these pieces (especially the round/bulbous ones) can communicate a complex dialogue between their surface and dimension. Through these three factors/guidelines he creates his pieces:

The construction: Simplicity to complexity. Circular or fragmented. 

The rhythm pattern: Different rhythms produced through the construction and the placement of parts.

The viewing position and depth in form: Horizontal, vertical or angular. Inside space or enclosed rhythm.

(Posted 10/01/13)

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Like Nobuhito, Kay Lynne Sattler focuses on the juxtaposition of hand coiled-formed clay structures (which are inspired by ephemeral forms in nature) with a careful and controlled application of gold leafing. Something that I've recently discovered I'm interested in within artworks is tension. Tension between "seeming chaos" and the "carefully controlled". Tension between the random, and the predictable, which to me, is not exceedingly forward (as is, for example, black and white). When an artwork finds perfect balance through the juxtaposing seemingly unlike elements--that I enjoy.

Always striving towards creating primal, pure and raw forms. It is my hope that viewing my work will evoke an emotional reponse and personal connection.

-Kay Lynne Sattler

(Posted 10/01/13)

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Nobuhito Nishigawara's work demonstrates an exemplary level of hybridization, making his artwork particularly interesting to me. His work is a representation of blurred lines between representation and reality. He finds that contemporary culture does not exist apart from its roots based in history. Thus, he creates artworks that transcend any single culture and era. This is an idea not unfamiliar to me. As an inevitable participant within contemporary American culture--which is in turn the result of many other from around the world--I draw inspiration via historic research.

Many of the contemporary culture themes and styles of presentation can be traced to traditional art forms.  I am interested in balancing unexpected juxtapositions with fluid to present my identity within the hybrid culture.

-N. Nishigawara

 (Posted 10/01/13)

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H. R. Gieger

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Oscar Martinez is a Puerto Rican artist who embellishes his canvases with bright and vivid colors.