Art is an individual endeavor. However, if one expresses oneself in another language, one should reconsider whether one is qualified to do so or limited in expression. It is necessary to have a process of signification for art to exist as art. Otherwise, art could merely be a "visual archeology" demanding academic verification. “Murmur, Murder & Mother”, Hoon Lee, 2001
Cranbrook Academy of Art
The School of The Art Institute of Chicago
Grand Valley State University
Ceramics Student Exhibition & Panel Discussion
Monday 10. 13. 2008 – Thursday 10. 23. 2008
The Stuart & Barbara Padnos Student Gallery
Alexander Calder Fine Arts Center
Grand Valley State University
Ceramics Studio Panel Discussion
Thursday 10. 23. 2008 @ 1pm – 5pm
Gallery Reception
Thursday 10. 23. 2008 @ 5pm – 7pm
Art 275 Introduction to Ceramics Students [Ceramics: Grand Valley State University]
Co-Relation Project: Stoneware & Glaze: 6”x6”x6” Each: 2008
Allison Fall [MFA Ceramics, School of the Art Institute of Chicago Ceramics / BFA Ceramics, The Ohio State University]
Improvisation with porcelain: Installation View, Detail
Transitions in life begin without us even knowing, until we look up and realize they are there. Connecting what exists to what is new is an improvisation of time. As a professional dancer and ceramic artist I investigate how the two languages speak with one another. “Improvisation with porcelain”, is similar to the approach of improvisational movement within dance. Entering the space with pieces to create an installation and the intent of showing transitions within time. Each porcelain cone supports and connects to the next, portraying the rhythm in life that tends to be uneven yet with consistency. By connecting one space to another, one wall to another, a transition becomes apparent while you walk down the stairs to enter the space. “Improvisation with porcelain” hangs above your head and creates a moment in which you are present, noticing your surroundings and maybe even noticing your transition into the next moment of time.
Amanda Schutze [BA, Art Ed. Emphasis in Ceramics: Grand Valley State University]
Untitled I & II: Wood & Gas Fired Stoneware: 9" x 11" x 6", 7" x 9" x 6.5": 2008
My recent work investigates the relationship between internal and external worlds. These pieces juxtapose images and/or forms that represent the dichotomy of individual versus objective perceptions. I have been employing press molds to create ceramic replicas of my body to stimulate ideas of the personal, while considering the impact of others in formulating the sense of self.
Amber Ginsburg [MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago / BS, Illinios State University]
Johnny Appleseed: As American as Apple Pie: A collaborative work by Amber Ginsburg and Katie Hargrave: Foraged crabapple, foraged American apples, antique apples, and red delicious apples, text, inkjet prints, and 52 cards: Dimension: variable: 2008
While Amber Ginsburg and Katie Hargrave have independent practices, they have been working collaboratively since 2005, first as active members of OPENSOURCE Art, an artist run space in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and then as an installation team. A shared interest in how histories affect our present actions continually suggests new projects. Both are interested in the politics of the remembered and the recorded. In the project, Johnny Appleseed-As American As Apple Pie, we look to recontextualize the historical timeframe and popular understanding of Johnny Appleseed, who truly embodies the American ethos of re-vamping and re-writing histories for public consumption. With this project, we seek to make apparent the multiplicity of narratives and their evolution across time through the personage of Johnny Appleseed and the object he has become patron saint over: the Apple. In our display, we look to three distinct eras: Johnny's lifetime, the progressive era, and current times. We look to political writing; writings and legends about Johnny; and the accompanying genetic and marketing transformation of the apple. Rather than insert our own language of opinions on these themes, we will supply primary source texts and the experience of taste allowing these histories and transformations to unfold.
Cheng-Yung Kuo [MFA, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago / BFA, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago]
12B: Photo emulsion on Porcelain: 24 w x 42 h: 2008
The work of 12B is an interpretation and inspiration from number 13. The work addresses my reaction to the meaning of the dreaded number 13.
Chunghee Han [MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art / Ewha Womans University]
Untitled
If you looked for ‘YuhYou’ in Korean-English dictionary, it defined as, composure; placidity; calmness; presence of mind. But ‘YuhYou’ means to me is the room near your heart, which let you have a special extra time and energy, beyond your busy life, to appreciate nature around you, including sunshine, clouds, and breeze; every little thing. I admire the word ‘YuhYou’, and it’s an important subject matter for me now. ‘YuhYou’ in my work let viewer to appreciate the beauty of marginal space in my work. Also, ‘YuhYou’ allow people to have a chance to acknowledge the beauty of natural feature. I want to give others ‘YuhYou’ visually and hopefully it could approach to their heart.
David Swanson [MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Ceramics Dept.]
Lever: porcelain, steel: 2007
Transformation is a two sided coin, one side is growth, the other decay; the two elements can exist only together in symbiosis. My work reflects on the nature of these forces and the systems that employ them. I play the role of the designer of systems, the catalyst, the observer, and sometimes the subject. Materials, objects and images serve as records and metaphors for human parallels.
Dean Foster [BFA, Ceramics: Grand Valley State University]
Clay as Clay, Detail: White Stoneware, Reduction Fired, Cone 9: 2008
Memory is the driving force in what I am doing in ceramics. I impact the clay with an object from a memory. I also use the tool that is most accessible, my hands, to recreate my memories in the clay. I am creating my memories on the clay and the clay is becoming a duel memory device. The blocks have the present marks made by me and my past memories transferred through my hands into the piece. In my work I take an object and through a violent action create a mark representing a moment of violence in my own life. This started as a search for objects that were significant to my history. Take for example the 2x4, which I was violently struck with in the summer of 2002, used to represent that time, by violently striking the clay. My current work is an investigation in mark making that is about memories. As with any time in one’s life where a mark was left, you can say when, where and how you got the mark. How one obtained the scar or mark is very interesting to me, I find my own scars are the driving force behind my work. Now that has lead me to think about the object’s mark and what that means to other people. Currently the mark has been the focus of the piece in ways other than through memory. I have begun to use objects that have no particular history in my life, but they may trigger memories in others. Beyond the object change, I have juxtaposed the violent mark with the intricate design and elegance of a doily. Doilies have been historically used to protect fine furniture from the abuses of ceramic plate ware. This deepens the relationship between the material and the pattern within the mark. When the object is violently introduced onto the clay causing a mark, then covered by the doily, offers others a chance to bring their memories to the piece.
Jeni Hansen [Ceramics: Grand Valley State University]
Vases: Stoneware & Glaze: Cone 9 ox: 6”x4” Each: 2008
As an artist I am compelled to create work that can be used everyday. I am drawn to the making of functional objects in ceramics. My current focus is still on making functional wears but also in discovering design elements that will make the most striking and yet successful pieces. I use several techniques in the clay from carving to glaze application. I am fascinated by the space that is created around these shapes especially in pairs. I am most interested in the relationship between the piece and the holder. Discovering what parts of my work will come together to create the right fit. I encourage the viewer to pick up my work, to touch it and to use it.
Drew Ippoliti [MFA, Crabrook Academy of Art / BFA, Masachusetts College of Art & Design]
Life of Plenty
Conceive. Perceive. Deceive. Receive. These words sum up the artistic process, which drives my studio practice. With my work I attempt to question the relationship between individual and society. What do the few owe the many and how does one reconcile what they should extract from the mass? Through a process of ritualized labor, I search for answers to this highly charged question. My objects embody the essence of the relationship between the solitary and the community, providing an experience that encourages the viewer to fabricate their own answers.
Katie Caron [MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art / BS, Boston University]
Wire Animation: Video projection, stop motion animation, wire, clay: 2008
There is no longer one absolute reality, but the possibility of multiple realities, each one as “real” or as artificial as the other- from Jeffrey Deitch Artificial Nature. Born into a TV infused suburbia, I am a product of artifice. My interest in the uncanny, virtual reality, the automaton, the cyborg, the hidden and unknown; all relates to my personal feelings of detachment from the natural world and alienation by a technology dependent consumer culture. Living in Colorado helped me to see outside of this system and become more objective about my small place in this world. In my search for truth, I have become confused. By creating layers of artifice using animation to compose virtual worlds, and theatrical lighting to invent space and non-space, I look to immerse my viewer in the experience of the work. Personifying form and material with emotion and motivation, I create personal narratives that reflect universal conflicts.
MacKenzie Whims [BFA, Ceramics: Grand Valley State University]
Interaction: Snow White Stoneware & Glaze: 3”x4” Each: 2008
My work is about an experience. Something not only I can relate to but also the viewer. Visual clues are used in order to stimulate thought about the general statement I am trying to reveal. I may not give the entire objective but instead leave the solution open ended in order to induce various conclusions dependent solely on your own personal experience. Mail is an intellectual connection between two people and is a very personal experience. One should not be obliged to throw away this experience after it is over but instead enjoy it time and again.
Natalie Carolan [BFA, Jewelry/Metal-Smith: Grand Valley State University]
Passion, Conflict, Elegance, Peace, Dreams: Ceramic: 2008
My hands are the greatest tools I will ever have. I enjoy simply playing with clay, swirling it around and around itself as I make a form. These pieces are about trusting in my own intuition and aesthetic as I make form after form. They are also about my own self and what I find important or beautiful in the world. I usually have only a small idea of what the final product will look like, and because there is little planning involved, I allow the clay to take form on its own as I build it up. My process requires me to work in stages, on different sections or another piece simultaneously while other parts dry. I embrace the accidents and small irregularities, for they make the piece much more interesting and beautiful as I continue refining them to become part of the work. And when all is said and done, I’m always excited to see what my hands have made next and how they have left their imprint behind.
Nathan Dorotiak [BFA, Ceramics: Grand Valley State University]
Man-Manicure: porcelain, water, soil, my body: 2008
The dirt is laid out before me, tilled. Water pours from my mouth and makes mud. I drive my hands underneath the earth and reach for what is underneath. I find porcelain leaves that are white. I try to beak it apart, but I cannot. I lay it on the floor, and smash it apart with my palm. With the shard in my hand, I cut at my beard to rid myself of my hair. I need the leave to manicure me, to trim me, to make me perfect.
Marie Perrin-McGraw [MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Ceramics Department]
For Tomorrow: soft sculpture form, porcelain stantions, copper tubing: 2008
The objects I make have ambiguous use, they may even seem useless. “For Tomorrow” waits not tucked away in a closet, but out in the open, for a time when the owner might come to realize the object’s potential.
Megahn Kelly [BA, Art Ed. Emphasis in Ceramics: Grand Valley State University]
Peter’s: Stoneware & Glaze: Each H8”x6”x4”: 2008
My work travels back & forth through personal interpretations of the world to curious statements from the subconscious. I create from a place where obsolete objects with little function coexist with bizarre cartoon people, idealized & simplified landscapes, & exaggerated architecture. I tend to create completely from my imagination, synthesizing images from memory or making a stab at the profound, the mysterious, the ethereal. I draw inspiration from things that are well made. Or not even well made, but handmade. I try to tell stories that don’t necessarily reveal themselves, comments of things observed & filtered through my eyes, which provide enough visual information that individual conclusions can be made.
Nora Jane Hipshear [BFA, Ceramics & BA, Art Ed. Emphasis in Ceramics: Grand Valley State University]
Summer Events: Stoneware, Under-glaze, Under-glaze Pencil, Oxides & Glaze: 19”x14”: 2008
My work responds to issues relating to the human body such as identity construction, societal roles, and dynamics of social powers. By focusing on the historical aspects of feminine identity, I analyze ways in which attire is presented and outward persona is shown. By using myself as a model, I can express my own experiences as a young woman. We are all burdened with differing perspectives on the world due to those things we are exposed to everyday. Layers of images burn into the back of my eyes, conversations I’ve had, and questions I ask myself in diary entries are all things that influence the perception of a situation. I wish to express all this semantic noise in the form of layered images and text. Conflicting personality traits are left because we cling onto absolute ideas and specific moments. I deal with these in my ceramic work though my body form, text, images, and cartoons. I am working on problems within my own life, using layers of my own emotions to create a surface to mirror myself within. These surface decorations either accent or work against my natural shape. The exaggeration of my form points to social pressures on women in America. I view these as pushing women to be pure, beautiful creatures, motherly, nurturing and the center of the home. We are all clad in costumes, conveying who we are and who we want to be within everyday interactions in our environment. My forms show my conflict between my role in society and who I am. I am exploring what I love about myself and what I hate.
Patrick Quilao [MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago / BFA, University of Nevada, Las Vegas]
Full Circle (What’s On Your Mind?): multiple piece series; ceramic, enamel: each piece 4.75” x 3.5”: 2006
Vanity: ceramic, rayon flock, luster: each piece 4.75” x 3.5”: 2006
Menageries of personalities are around me constantly, consciously and unconsciously shaping my work. My work becomes a culmination- a tangible account of the impact had by remarkable individuals on the world around me. It’s about bringing out that collected human experience from within the sensory intensity and abundant kitsch in a sprawling community.
My work draws heavily from community. It comments on the relationships found in given collections of personalities in context to their purpose vs. their destiny. And the approach to creating my work is influenced by my fascination with discovering these personalities on the way to a destination or in accomplishing something together. The development of those we meet in each story and why has major bearing on my work and I aim to encapsulate that notion somehow.
The resulting work: a materialized form akin to the back of a cereal box, a video game instruction manual, a row of slot machine marquees, the back of a toy’s packaging, a wall of religious saint iconography, or a high school yearbook. I’m interested in how together these distinctive personalities become an engaging showcase.
Stephanie Reahm [BA, Art Ed. Emphasis in Ceramics: Grand Valley State University]
Process and Result: Porcelain & Glaze: Approx. 3.5”x17” Each: 2008
What is process? Our lives revolve around process and using process to get results. The routine of going through the process of schooling and eventually getting a job is something that most of us go through. But is life really only about the result? Is going to college really only about getting a job? My pieces relate to how our minds are wired to focus on results. The wall pieces are a direct reflection of the process of wheel throwing because they are all of the shavings I have used in order to make the cylinders, thus showing the process it took to make those forms.
Robert Wetherington [M.F.A.Cranbrook Academy of Art / B.F.A. Kansas City Art Institute]
Subconsciously Connected, Detail of Inner Ear: 12/10/06: 13”x29.5”x17”: Ceramic, Refractory Wire, Lab Equipment, CT Scans, Glass: Detail
My work is a personal inquiry on the correlation between the physical and the ethereal. I am interested in how the unseen and intangible affect us and am questioning how intangible, ethereal information becomes substance. Our mind perceives the obvious, but what about the information that we subconsciously absorb? Does this information affect our thoughts, actions, and observations? I feel that everything in life has a reason, and it is through this philosophy that I approach my work. I welcome imperfections that one usually finds distracting and build an environment within the work in which the dichotomy of order and chaos coexist. I am aware of the personal connections people are making with these forms and plan to further investigate this dynamic relationship in future work and research.
Tim Eads [MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art / BFA, Texas Tech University]
Clear Condiments #2: screen print on PETG: 17 x 17 x 6”: 2008
I am also interested in the notions of topographical mapping and how it relates to perception of space. I am also fascinated with capturing liquid states using ceramic, plastic, and wood as key media. I am continually searching for new approaches to these materials to question our thoughts about the materials. Other themes and ideas I am using in my work include humor, repetition, monumentality, and mystery.
Virginia Goode [Ceramics: Grand Valley State University]
Meditation, Detail: Snow White Stoneware & Glaze: 2008
An ode to the Middle East - an emotional piece. Memories of mystery and surprise, peace and beauty, many layered. Places of contrast--of light and shade, of color and bleached of color. Slowed pace of life--a time to think and observe.
Yu-Hang Huang [MFA, The School of Art Institute of Chicago / BFA, Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design (Vancouver, Canada)]
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Untitled: Dimension varies
My recent work emphasizes identity issues that relate to Taiwanese national identity and North American culture. As a Taiwanese Canadian, inspired by Taiwan's colonial history and my immigration experience, I am interested in how cultural identities are constructed through everyday objects. The copying and constructing daily objects symbolize the process to merge into local culture and have become my practice. "Untitled" series is made out of polyethylene foam. The idea comes from the objects in my studio. By displacing these objects, it changes the conversations between the viewers, the objects, and the space.
Cranbrook Academy of Art
Chunghee Han
David Swanson
Drew Ippoliti
Katie Caron
Marie Perrin-McGraw
Robert Wetherington
Tim Eads
The School of Art Institute of Chicago
Allison Fall
Amber Ginsburg
Cheng-Yung Kuo
Patrick Quilao
Yu-Hang Huang
Grand Valley State University
Art 275 Introduction to Ceramics Students
Amanda Schutze
Dean Foster
Jeni Hansen
MacKenzie Whims
Meghan Kelly
Natalie Carolan
Nathan Dorotiak
Nora Jane Hipshear
Stephanie Reahm
Virginia Goode
The Ceramics Forum 2008
Curated by Hoon Lee
Ceramics Program Coordinator
Assistant Professor of Art & Design
Grand Valley State University
1402 Calder Art Center
1 Campus Dr.
Allendale, MI 49501
leeho@gvsu.edu
616 331 3102
