There is something almost magical about bells. I spotted Michele Quan's ceramic bells on one of my favorite tumblr's to visit, Love Adorned (which is also a brick and mortar store in NYC). Quan's work seems thoughtful and really moving in a way, like they've had past lives. Her bell garlands are my favorite along with her bells on twisted rope with porcelain.
Images from Michele Quan's site of her opening, Suzu at Love Adorned.
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Whenever an artist transforms a gallery it's always an exciting endeavor. In Rebekah Bogard's latest show/installation, CRUSH, the gallery has been filled with water giving the illusion that the gallery is bottomless. Gargoyle like beings sit above on the rafters, watching or guarding the isolated couple as they float a top the water chamber.
CRUSH was four years n the making! It's great to see such an intense installation look so effortless and gorgeous. You can see the entire installation from beginning to end on Rebekah's FB photo album. And the final project here.
CRUSH runs through September 23, 2010 at Casper College Goodstein Art Gallery Casper, WY. Closing Reception & Lecture: Sept 23, Noon.
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Dance, ceramic with glaze and oil paint, 12”h x 12.5”w x 1” d, 2009.
Recently I met up with Amanda Smith and her husband Casey Jex Smith out at Guerrero Gallery, where Casey had work in the most recent show there, Weight Perception. I was delighted to get to meet them both in person. Charming as they are via email, it was nice to chat with them both. I had recently seen newer work of Amanda's at the SF Art Fair and asked if she would send over new work to post. Her candy colored ceremic pieces look like ornate cakes to me, and her newer work is dripping with adornment. What I admire most about Amanda's work is the dynamicism within each piece; her pairing of traditional craft with her many inspirations gives the viewer so much to dive into.
"My work involves fables drawn from both personal experience and observation. Through metaphor, these narratives explore questions of social hierarchies, human interactions and humans’ moral agency. The little girls that inhabit these pieces are the product of my experience growing up in a hyper-feminine household with my mother and three sisters.
My penchant for flat painting as well as the stylization of elements in my work comes from my love of historic religious narrative painting the world over, most notably Persian, Mughal and Rajasthani Indian manuscript and miniature paintings.
Painting with ceramic mediums has allowed me to make archival, singular, handmade art objects. This has become increasingly important to me as everything from communication to clothing in contemporary culture is becoming ephemeral, mass-produced and/or disposable. Additionally, ceramics offers a unique palette of surfaces and textures. I am really interested in employing traditional decorative techniques like decaling, sprigging, lustering, lace-draping and china painting. I love how these techniques offer my work a classically ceramic, candy-coated aesthetic."
I can totally relate to Amanda's mention of everything becoming disposable. I appreciate her urge to want to create something long lasting and beautiful. Which she completely captures.
Dance, detail.
The Sweetness of Folly, ceramic, glaze, oil paint and gold luster, 24”h x 18”w x 1”d, 2009.
The Sweetness of Folly, detail.
Hot Punch, 18"h x 21.5"w x 1/2"d
Oakland Temple Float, 21"h x 17" w x 1"d.
Dinner Party, 18" x 18.5" x 1"
Dinner Party, detail.
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I recently made a visit to Meredith Dittmar’s artist studio to get a first hand look at the process and beauty of her polymer clay sculptures. I was in awe to enter her lush “Homes & Gardens” backyard where she sculpts and paints large, playful creatures. In her art studio, amps and turn tables are ready to set the mood for creating the insane amount of detail you see in every facet of her sculptures. With scientific and technical precision, Meredith assembles a delightful pallet of colors and shapes into scenes of mystery with deep philosophical roots. We spoke about technology, math, religion, nature, and the world existing within these realms.
She is currently working on a few separate collections and commission works that she let me photograph. The stages in her procedure come together in many different, and often somewhat random ways; beginning with a sketch and improvising until the piece is completed.
Meredith’s high energy and comical sense of humor transmit into her characters and figurines. You can see more of her figures she calls “My Guys” on her website corporatepig.com.
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"My work tends to focus on the body, not always as a literal representation, but as an abstraction of bodily parts. My most recent series, "Pretty Pleas" is inspired by the body and the parts that I often project personalities onto - the parts that are most vulnerable, humorous and at times, useless. Rolls of fat, breasts, bellies and bottoms stack or hang off one another. My fascination with blobs has much to do with their lack of form, they're amorphous, tactile, ridiculous and absurd. Also, i consider the blob to be the manifestation of certain characteristics of social behavior and consumption...the result of accumulation.
I later build onto and paint the surface with coloured glazes, decals and found objects. Flowers and frills, ribbons and ruffles are an attempt to beautify the object and please the viewer with the hope of inspiring both empathy and delight!"
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