Emerging Artists 2016 Editorial Content

Appears in the May 2016 issue of Ceramics Monthly.

“We live in a time where answers are readily available and the unknown hardly exists. . . . It is important to me that my work offer a departure from this monotonous reality."

This quote from Qwist Joseph’s artist statement hits home on a few levels. His mid- to large-scale sculptures work as object poems, setting up stylized clay renditions of familiar objects with multimedia elements in ways that suggest but do not define their relationships, with meaning existing between the objects rather than in them. The scale shift, along with the sense of touch implied by the pinched earthenware versions of forms like an oversized egg paired with life-size versions of a large cactus and a bird cage, keep reminding me that I’m looking at objects that have a story they’d like to tell (to and with me) if I'm willing to spend the time.

Creating a unique style while making functional forms is no small feat for potters. The wheel has already been invented, what remains is to make work that stands out from the rest. Lauren Smith is doing just that. Her intense curves and strappy handles are highlighted by undulating rims and chunky scallops. Each form is further complimented by thin lines added to segment the forms and jewel-toned glazes, which pool and sparkle in all the right places. 

Smith writes that while making work, she imagines the pieces being used at fancy dinner parties, yet her draw to pottery is a yearning to share pieces with those who will “create daily rituals” with them. It’s easy to say her work fits comfortably in both places.

George Rodriguez tells stories through large-scale sculpture in an approachable, community-oriented way. He relies on strategies from combining humor and ornate decoration, to conjuring up and mixing folk-art traditions to create narra-tives that may be serious, but are presented in a disarming way. 

Pieces like Hanuman and Object of My Affection—Shrine draw viewers in because they feel familiar, even friendly, and the encrusted surfaces beckon one to look more closely, to be-come absorbed in the sprigged ornamentation. The abundant surface decoration rides the line between evoking generosity and unchecked proliferation, or joy and danger.

At a time when the popular aesthetic in ceramics is loose and often playful, Claire Prenton unapologetically embraces ornament and embellishment. While nature plays a large part in her deco-ration, the nod to historical interior design and vintage costumes are what resonate with the work. Prenton amasses pooling glazes and sprigs to achieve an almost jewel-like embroidered quality to each piece—whether it be functional or sculptural. As a final over-the-top gesture, she guilds her forms with bits and dabs of gold and platinum luster creating a feeling of opulence akin to Baroque architecture. To Claire Prenton, knowing when to stop is a question rarely asked.

The pieces combine a bold use of color with subtle, ambiguous expressions and gestures that leave the viewers feeling both uncom-fortable and intrigued, trying to determine what the subjects are thinking, what the artist was thinking about when she made the piece, and how the conclusions we may be drawing say as much about our own emotional experiences as anything else.

Leather-hard clay has a certain allure for most ceramic artists. Like many artists, Jeremy Wallace wanted to find ways to maintain or capture the qualities of clay at this raw state in his finished, fired vessels. Wallace successfully blends his interest in maintaining a specific surface quality with the functional requirements of vessels made for everyday use. 

The utilitarian pieces he makes tell a story about how they were constructed, and about the ways stoneware clay slabs move, curve, and tear during the building process. He pulls these responses into the foreground both by working with lay-ers and by using slips and glazes that accentuate and respond to the clay’s surface and to the atmosphere of the wood/soda kiln he uses to fire his work.  

Juliane Shibata’s botanical installations reflect on the relation-ships between humans and the natural world. On an individual level, each flower is carefully made with every detail and aspect considered and reminds us how precious flowers are, whether real or ceramic. As a whole piece, the multiple handmade flowers are thoughtfully displayed in a way that highlights repetition and energizes the spaces between them. 

In her piece Violets and Irises, Shibata pays a homage to her grandparents. In her artist statement, Shibata explains that her Japanese-American grandmother, Toshi, favored irises and repeat-edly tried to grow them in her New Mexico garden, but the climate was too dry. Although physical flowers have a defined lifespan as they grow, bloom, and eventually decompose, Shibata’s fired-ceramic sculptures speak of stability and permanence.