By Fire: A Contemporary Ceramic Exhibition - 2019
This exhibition explores the materiality of ceramics by focusing on non-utilitarian, sculptural work, featuring a diverse set of contemporary artists who push form to the threshold.
Exhibiting Artists: Christopher L Davis-Benavides, Rebecca Carlton, Stephanie Evans, Minkyu Lee, & Tony Staroska
On Exhibit: August 30–October 13, 2019
Christopher L Davis-Benavides
Having spent my life with a foothold in two cultures, Peru and the United States, it is natural that the source of my artwork is an impulse to examine these two divergent worlds as a tension of cultural and aesthetic forces in a struggle for identity. The visual result of this confrontation, western formal concepts in conflict with non-western forms of visual expression, is evidenced in my artwork throughout my career. The work is a reflection of my thought processes and experiences rather than a documentation or critique. It is rooted in history, current events and specific places without being direct representation. Broadly speaking, my work incorporates three repeating and recombining components; the architectonic, the human figure/statuary, and the vessel. For this exhibition I have selected pieces that are hybrids of these components. These are fruits of unpredictable studio experimentation that I find peculiar, but in some enigmatic way capture my attention.
Rebecca Carlton
Vanish: To Become Zero
Catalina Island Mountain Mahongany: California - 6 Remaining Original Trees
Māhoe: Hawai’i - Less Than 300 Trees Remain
Maple-leaf Oak: Arkansas - Less Than 600 Trees Remain
Virginia Round-leaf Birch: Virginia - 8 Trees Remain From Original Population
Sometimes the simplest, most beautiful things in the world I forget to protect - a moth fluttering in a porch light, plants exploding in scent during a desert monsoon rain, trees bowing in the wind, joyous utterances of an unknown language. I paid attention to the trees and “Vanish” began to grow.
The works that interests me is observing, the often missed objects in the world, the things that are overlooked that may appear unimportant - unglamorous. I am interested in what lies under our foot, in front of our noses, quiet things, that as we race to the top of the mountain, we pass.
This leads me to the disappearance of things, of natural things, of moths, flowers, mammals, plants, languages, insects. How and why do things disappear? Do we have a responsibility to protect these things before they become zero? Are we culpable if we are unwitting bystanders? My small contribution may stimulate a conversation or two, an awareness revealed, a seed planted, maybe a desire found.
The leaves of four of the most critically endangered trees of North America were chosen to be included in this installation. The use of black clay signifies the dying of these trees. It is also a metaphor representing the pollution of the air, interfering with the process of photosynthesis, which all life depends on. Without light, we only see darkness. The concentric circles represent tree rings, a tree’s growth and age record. The circles also reference mandalas, a sacred space within the wholeness of the universe.
My hope is for all of us to pause in the midst of the rush and see, smell, hear something so wonderful!
Stephanie Evans
Be a light.
Warm and illuminating.
Let’s push aside surrounding darkness and illuminate a path forward.
Let’s grow like a wild vine, embracing the expansion of new directions and ideas.
Let’s recognize the vulnerabilities of the world, of others and of ourselves.
Let’s be vigilant in our efforts to find our light even when it proves dangerous and futile.
Let’s never forget to protect what’s protecting us.
Be a light.
Warm and illuminating.
Minkyu Lee
Repetition, for most people, is an integral part of their daily lives. Recurrence, routine, cycles and rituals are universal principles that structure nature and human existence. For me, geometric structures underlie our world, these include all organic and inorganic matter. My artworks are attempts to visualize this invisible concept by using repetitive geometric forms.
Tony Staroska
I am opposed to the concept of an artist statement. Any piece of artwork is a dialogue between the maker and the viewer. The work either speaks to you or it doesn’t. What the artist is thinking during the process of creating is not important. The written word about an object of art by the creator skews the viewers perspective of the piece. The artist is making a visual statement based upon his or her training and philosophy. The viewer should be allowed the same freedom to interpret the work based on their life experiences.
I have read “Huckleberry Finn” in every decade of my life. The meaning of that book is not the same in my seventh decade as it was in my second. But, it is essential to note that both has an impact on my life at that particular time.
Despite my feelings, my current large-scale sculpture series, “Warmth of Rocks,” is an interpretation of the natural rock formations along the Great Lakes’ shorelines and geologic expanse of the American Southwest.
