Exploring the abstract.
Having abandoned the certainty of a known form and its expected details, the biggest challenge when engaging in abstract designs is being able to assemble a cohesive whole from the choices of shapes, colours and spaces. The liberation from not having to exactly interpret a defined reality unleashes a spontaneity and improvisation that can produce engrossing results. Using the manipulation of form and the breaking down of a structured reality into more simplistic details, allows the suspension of the order of symmetry for more asymmetrical forms. This opens up the creation of movement and unpredictability with the flow of the shapes, lines, textures and colours all capable of input. The resulting tension delivers a heightened dynamic from a form striving for balance. Reflecting the fluid reality of the subconscious with its mystique and temporal, less fixated presence, the abstract can arouse an array of perceptions. Abstract art is interactive in the sense that it invites the viewer to participate with their interpretations of the sculptural works, through not being presented with a definitive, structured piece.
Featured here are six contemporary American ceramic artists who use abstract concepts in their decorative styles. I feel they present a skilful and intuitive representation of this deep and fascinating medium.
Michael Gustavson
California
“Clay has been an art form that man has used since the beginning of time. Every culture that has been discovered through archaeology has a historic record of uses for clay. From utilitarian to sculpture this ancient historical record has always intrigued me. Since my discovery of clay I have been learning and exploring the many different qualities of clay.”
“As you look at my works you will note that I use many different techniques to manipulate clay to express my personal aesthetic views. Clay itself has a lot to do with my aesthetic viewpoint.
The last 38 years I have used the forms that I create, whether vessel or wall slabs, as a vehicle to express myself as a painter using glaze as my paint. My most recent works are a series of large hand built tectonic forms. With these forms I will continue to explore and express the language of clay. “
” As is the case with most artists, the analyzing and verbalizing of their works is really not the statement, the statement truly is the work itself.”
website HERE
Blue Rhythm – Michael Gustavson
Day and Night – Michael Gustavson
Masquerade – Michael Gustavson
Solar Flare – Michael Gustavson
Caribbean Blue– – Michael Gustavson
74″ Height
‘Evening Walk’ – Michael Gustavson
‘Beautiful Thought’ – Michael Gustavson
‘Artifact’ – Michael Gustavson
Abstract vase ‘Ancient Journey’ – Michael Gustavson
‘Solitary Dancer’ – Michael Gustavson
‘South Window’ – Michael Gustavson
Desert Art Collection
‘Light Sculpture’ – Michael Gustavson
Glazing a vessel – Michael Gustavson
‘Epiphany’ – Michael Gustavson
‘Arc’ – Michael Gustavson
‘Sea Creature ‘- Michael Gustavson
‘Eloquence’ – Michael Gustavson
‘Earth Watch T en’ – Michael Gustavson
Hawthorne Gallery
‘Chromatic Afternoon’ – Michael Gustavson
‘Asia’ – Michael Gustavson
Eric Knoche
” My current work ranges from small puzzles to human size outdoor works to manipulatable sculpture to large installations with many pieces. I make things I am curious to see. The work tends to evolve out of itself and I often feel like I am an archaeologist excavating my own subconscious. Here are some things that I think influence my work: male and female figures, bones, machine parts, houses, clouds, landscapes, algebra equations, micro-facial movements, fact and truth, alphabets and foreign languages, spacial relationships, tools I don’t know how to use, the distortional nature of memory, the limits of ocular perception, plants, neutron stars, dancing, running water, and songbirds. ”
” I think some physical forms and arrangements of space are simply pleasing to humans at a sort of meta-level. ”
website HERE
Raku vessel – Erich Knoche
photo-Tim-Barnwell
Vessel Eric Knoche
photo-Tim-Barnwell
Tuning Fork – Eric Knoche
2012
Eric Knoche
photo by Matt Rose
Vessel – Eric Knoche
Switcharoo – Eric Knoche
Red Spiral – Wood fired stoneware by Eric Knoche
…
Sheryl Zacharia
Santa Fe
” As a child I was captivated by old things. I realize now much of that had to do with their handmade quality. My clay work is influenced by the material itself, its history and the intimacy of its interaction with the hand and touch. This is why my surfaces reveal the process; and the process becomes the surface.
The sculptural forms focusing on shape and surface are inspired by my love for ancient relics and modern abstract paintings. The textured and stamped areas help the eyes travel deliberately around the forms. The combination of raw and refined surfaces echoes the inevitable marriage of new and old. “
” Pattern and form are rhythm, palette is harmony, lines and shapes are lyrical. I’m striving to make a visual poetry. ”
website –HERE
‘Dancers’ – Sheryl Zacharia
18x19x5
( Tansey Contemporary Gallery, Santa Fe ) -sold
‘Sky Dwelling’ – Sheryl Zacharia
‘Woman in the window’ – Sheryl Zacharia
Jane Sauer Gallery – sold
‘Black Sail Black Moon’ – Sheryl Zacharia
18 x 13 x 4
‘Summer Fling’ – Sheryl Zacharia
18″ x 22″ x 5″
In a permanent collection at Racine Art Museum, Racine Wisconsin
‘Autumn Winds’ – Sheryl Zacharia
( Tansey Contemporary Gallery, Santa Fe )
‘Egghead Face’ – Sheryl Zacharia
‘Eye of the Storm’ – Sheryl Zacharia
‘Devilish’ – Sheryl Zacharia
‘Sun Travels’ – Sheryl Zacharia
‘Squared Off ‘ – Sheryl Zacharia
‘Fantasy Foliage’ – Sheryl Zacharia
‘Liquid Woman’ – Sheryl Zacharia
17″ x 8″ x 6″
Sheryl Zacharia, NY-USA
‘Asymmetrical bottles’ -Sheryl Zacharia
…
Wayne Higby
The pieces below were displayed at the Renwick Gallery retrospective “Infinite Place: The Ceramic Art of Wayne Higby” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Wayne Higby’s vision of the American landscape appears in ceramic forms ranging from vessels and sculptures to architectural installations.
Large hand-thrown raku-fired glazed ceramic footed vessel, “Green Water Afternoon”
Wayne Higby – 12″ x 21″ x 14 1/2″
‘Stone Gate’ – Wayne Higby
2007 – photo by Brian Oglesbee
( SmithsonisnAmericanArtMuseum )
Wayne Higby – ‘Yellow Rock Falls’
1975
Photo – JohnCarlano
‘Untitled Bowl’ – Wayne Higby
( franklloyd.com )
Wayne Higby with ‘Pictorial Lake’
1986 – glazed earthenware, raku-fired
collection of Sarah H. Morabito
photo by Brian Oglesbee
( Smithsonisn American Art Museum )
‘Green Terrace Canyon’ – Wayne Higby
From the exhibition A Vision of the American Landscape in Ceramic Forms and Porcelain Jars.
1975 – glazed earthenware, raku-fired
collection of Marlin and Regina Miller
photo by John Carlano
Wayne Higby Raku Bowl
Wayne Higby Ceramic Boxes with lids
Wayne Higby–‘Triangle Springs’ 1972
Lauren Mabry
Philadelphia
” I make painterly, abstract, ceramic objects. Primarily my work communicates directly through its formal and aesthetic qualities, but it may also be understood in relationship to abstract painting, minimal work, and process art. Sometimes the surfaces look weathered and aged, but at the same time colorfully lush and wet. There is a sense of immediacy to the mark making, and at moments a quality of action. I exploit the intrinsic characteristics of ceramic materials to produce pieces with a magnetic dissonance. Ultimately, my work is a synthesis of intuitive, expressive surfaces and elemental forms. “
” The absence of representation in my work allows the marks, brush strokes and colour to communicate. I’m compelled by the scintillating, seductive energy created through formal dualities. ”
website HERE
Earthenware cylinder with slips, glaze, china paint – Lauren Mabry
Cylinder with hand painted absrtact decoration – Lauren Mabry
Lauren Mabry
Ceramic cylinder -Lauren Mabry
Contemporary ceramic art wall panel – Lauren Mabry
Lauren Mabry
Earthenware, slips, glaze, china paint 2012
11″ height x 12″ diameter
Lauren Mabry studio glazing, Philadelphia
‘Spilling Pipe’ – glazed ceramic – Lauren Mabry
17″h-x-17w-x-17d
-2014.-
Lauren Mabry
Danny Rosales, LA
“When I began working with a new medium – clay. I had no idea that I would like the feel of clay and the challenges it has to offer. Although I have worked in many mediums in the past, it is the only one that seems addictive. In the beginning it felt a bit overwhelming, but soon found that if I apply my same basic building principles I have always used along with some new clay methods the possibilities are endless.”
“Visual perception is the sum of one’s personal experiences projected onto whatever is before us, often familiar, but oftentimes unique. The intent of my work is to use these familiarities to entice the viewer to experience a unique perspective taken from ordinary objects. I like machines as subject matter because they give me the illusion of reshaping time, and at the same time the imagery provokes its own power of thought.”
http://www.dannyrosalesart.com/
Danny Rosales ‘Closure Removed’ –2014
‘Design Assembly With Tool’ -ceramic wall sculpture by Danny Rosales
2015
‘Mechanism five’ raku wall sculpture – Danny Rosales – 2014
12″ x 11″
‘Temple Remains’ – Danny Rosales
height 17″
2014
Danny Rosales raku sculpture
Danny Rosales
photo Lisa John Lucas
‘Section Out’ – raku sculpture by Danny Rosales
15″ height — 2014
height 25 inches
‘Trial and Error’ Danny Rosales
20″ height
‘Antiquated frequency’ -Danny Rosales
7″ x 12″
