Environmental Issues

These powerful sculptures of animal and nature combined with human parts has a magnetic eye-catching effect. Kate MacDowell stated in her artist statement, "In my work this romantic ideal of union with the natural world conflicts with our contemporary impact on the environment. These pieces are in part responses to environmental stressors including climate change, toxic pollution, and gm crops."

Kate usually starts with words to describe her work prior to envisioning her pieces in order to start the process of sketching and sculpting. She uses modern technology for research, i.e., Google, to search for images for references, as well as any visual imageries she collects from her many travels. Kate MacDowell uses porcelain clay for her artwork which normally take 3 days to a month to sculpt and additional 2 weeks for firing and finishing. Her work has been exhibited globally with numerous write ups.

Exhibitions:

Mindy Solomon Gallery (group exhibition)

St. Petersburg, Florida, USA

April 10 - May 15, 2010

Patrajdas Contemporary Art (group exhibition)

Chicago, Illinois, USA

April 30 - May 3, 2010

artKitchen Gallery

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

May 2010

bo.lee Gallery

Bath BA1 1HE, United Kingdom

June 26 - July 10, 2010

Like Body, Like Mind

Beth Cavener Stichter quoted, "I rely on animal body language in my work as a metaphor for these underlying patterns, transforming the animal subjects into human psychological portraits." She explains the similarities of human and animal body language, as well as the nature of the message through the subconscious mind.

Beth uses clay to sculpt these amazing art, as she explains, "I have always linked the materiality of flesh and the memory of it with clay." Her larger pieces would take 3 to 5 months to complete. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Sculpture from Haverford College, and Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics from The Ohio State University. Visit her website for additional work as well as her upcoming shows and workshops.

Anthropomorphism Of A Teapot

In my opinion, the reputation of ceramic art has not been excepted as mainstream, high valued art. Each piece is hand thrown and fired, with unexpected results, therefore, each piece of ceramic is unique by nature. From my previous posting of Kevin Nguyen (ceramic artist) and Shao Ting-Ju (fine artist), I hope I would convince most that ceramic art should be highly respected and honored for their skills and their visions.

I would like to introduce Fong Choo, who is an award winning and internationally known artist for his miniature teapots. He has been focusing on his art for over 10 years, as he continues to explore the challenges with vast new discoveries. Some experts claim his style is similar to the Yixing style of teapots.

Fong emphasizes on the different aspect of each parts to put together a teapot, the body, neck, shoulder, belly, foot... all elements which is symbolic to the human characteristics which Fong finds fascinating. He expresses the difficulty in the challenges as he has lost many ceramic pieces by trial and error, for every step is part of the learning process.

Fong Choo is a professor and an artist at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. He has put together 4 volumes on YouTube describing his process in ceramic. I would like to share with you Fong's quote which I will cherish, "Talent is not a prerequisite. Creativity is learning how to see."

Exhibitions:

The American Craft Exposition

Evanston, Illinois, USA

August 27 - 30, 2009

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

November 11 - 15, 2009

Teaching:

Arrowmont School of Arts and Craft

Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA

October 4 - 10, 2009

The Metchosin International Summer School of the Arts

Victoria, BC, Canada

October 24 - 26, 2009

Clay By Nature

These figurines caught my attention, and I want one. Upon my search, this art is created by a Taiwanese ceramic artist, Shao Ting-Ju. The ceramics are part of Shao's installation, which is displayed globally, bringing us the concept of human nature in relationship with existence, religion, and politics. Her statements are deep and detailed which reflects the same nature of her process and approach to ceramics as each individual pieces are handmade to look similar, yet they are unique.  These clay figures represents the human figure, as the birds represents mother nature.

Shao is an award winning artist, traveling the world to share her vision, as well as being a committee consultant and juror for international ceramic competitions.  You could access this link for an in-depth artist statement about her concept. 

Xiem Clay

The featured artist is Kevin Nguyen, who is also a good friend of mine. Kevin is a professional industrial designer who found a passion in pottery.  Only a few artists that I have known, have the confidence and the courage to leave their daily 9-5 job in order to pursue a dream. Although working with shapes and sculpting with his hands is not unusual for an industrial designer, this medium allows him the freedom of expression through using natural earthly materials.  His style has a characteristic mixture of Eastern, Western, and European countries. 

Kevin founded Xiem Clay Center in 2003.  

Most of the time, you'll find Kevin burning the midnight oil, usually from a spark of a thought or testing new materials and techniques. Xiem Clay Center offers a wide range of Ceramic materials and supplies, a gallery, as well as numerous courses.  If you are in the area, stop by the studio and view his work in person.  Who said playing in the mud isn't rewarding?