Sunday, October 25, 2009

Asian Ceramics

Chinese Yixing Teapot


Korean Celadon teapot

Japanese Woodfired pot


One of the early things that seduced me into the realm of clay was coming across Asian ceramics piled up in the stores of the busy markets of big city china towns. I have always loved the rough and gestural look of Japanese woodfired ceramics, the deep water celadon glazes and elegant forms perfected in Korean ceramics, and the soft, natural look of Chinese Yixing teapots. Asian Ceramics have been a huge influence in both my work and my love for ceramics in general. Every time I am in an Asian market I hold the ceramics in my hand and think "how can I make this, I have to make this!" I spend a lot of time picking up already made ceramics and feeling every bit of the form...looking at the the rim and the foot..peering deeply into the glaze considering what it may be made of, how it might have been fired. Museums have also been a great place for me to take in the ceramics of Asia (both ancient and contemporary). They never let me touch them though! It has been a long time dream and goal of mine to travel to Asia just to visit the old pottery villages and kiln sites there. I want to stay up all night stoking an anagama kiln with Japanese Zen monks. I'd like to travel down the old silk route and dig up some of that yixing clay. Sit by the side of the great masters of Korea as they carve into their pots with their homemade tools. The ceramics of Asia is such a deep foundation to rest upon in the land of clay. Every time you start to doubt the medium all you have to do is look east and look back and there are multitudes of well made objects to help put that shiver back in your spine.

Monday, October 19, 2009

places that have never left me...


Kathmandu


Rickshaw drivers in India


Tibetan prayer flags in the Himalayan foothills


Nepali tea pickers in Himalayan foothills


I've failed to mention so far any of my real life experiences that have influenced and inspired me. Travel has been an essential part of my life...it has shaped me in layers that are hard to place your finger on. Like layers upon layers of old hand me down clothes...as they unravel you can see bits of other layers poking through. What, Who, Where and Why? You wonder because it's no longer in context...
Whenever I travel I fully dive into another galaxy...submerged, I joke with the locals, chewing on their favorite snacks, dropping slang and antidotes as I bounce someones baby on my knee while convincing everyone that I completely belong there, have always been there somehow...even though I've just walked up the road an hour ago. When it comes time to leave they never want to let me go. I always move on anyways because why settle for just one and only one galaxy? If you have known many you always know that there are so many more out there...its hard to ever sit still.
So I suppose in my travels I have been influenced not just by the places I have been to, but by this way of life in general. The ability to adapt and take in and then let go again. Parred with a puzzled longing for the other things you've known and the aspects that made a lot more sense. You smash apart your world so it can expand again and of course you feel fragmented. It becomes as routine as breathing and like anything you collect in large quantity you lose track after awhile. I have more memories than I can really do justice. As my mind goes these influences drift into a subtle subconscious realm and that is when it comes out into my artwork...

So yes..India and Nepal. In 1999 I traveled there with my bicycle. It was my first experience in a 3rd world country and on bike I was not sheltered from the rain or the grabbing hands of the ragtag children who chased me down the road begging for candy. Ritual, bright colors in contrast with decay and poverty, animals in the street, religion and family, people who knew how to co-exist in a very crowded space. The intensity and overwhelming smells, colors, tastes, sounds and forms...they have never left me.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Expressive figures


Robert Arnerson


Arthur Gonzalez


Rimas Visgirda


These are all successful and contemporary ceramic figure sculptors that I can relate to. I like their ability to stray from realism into more expressive graphic forms. I like that their pieces have a 2-D painterly style but then do not deny that they are clay with there rough surfaces. Good use of color and narrative. All a bit moody, sarcastic and humorous.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Space invaders


Ann Hamilton


Andy Goldsworthy



Christo and Jeanne-Claude

These installation artists have all inspired me due to their ability to think big and transform public spaces into otherworldly abstractions. These pieces all exist only for a moment of time but manage to have a profound impact on the viewer in that they are able to create a shift in every day reality. I think this is the most important job of an artist. To take in the world we live in , interpret it, and communicate this back to others in a way that can open eyes or create feelings of kindred understanding. I am interested in installation art in that it can be a shared/communal experience of shifted perception. Each day we are subject to the cities we walk through and are impacted by what others have planned for us in terms of streets, parks and architecture. In these modern times man dictates nature and the land we inhabit and it is decided what we take in each day. Unfortunately in this era putting art into our daily lives is the last consideration of the corporate driven city planners. Art is less and less incorporated into our public spaces of daily use. I think because of this it is all the more shocking when suddenly there is something out of the ordinary and non-utilitarian that occupies these spaces. These artists have all maniuplated this delema in a powerfull way. How can I create art that can interact with, inspire or turn upside down the perceptions of people as they pass by amidst the bussle of their daily grind?