University Of Hawaii Art Gallery - East-West Ceramics Collaboration V

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University Of Hawaii Art Gallery - East-West Ceramics Collaboration V
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University of Hawai‘i Art Gallery
PRESS INFORMATION: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA
Department of Art & Art History
University of Hawaii Art Gallery

ART EXHIBITION

East-West Ceramics Collaboration V: The Exhibition
Twelve contemporary artists from Pacific Rim countries present their exciting new works in clay that range from graceful porcelain, bold abstract sculptural forms, traditional vessels, to humorous flights of fancy. Created during a recent workshop, the works are available for purchase.

LOCATION

University of Hawaii Art Gallery
Art Building, University of Hawaii at Manoa

DATES

October 23 - December 9, 2011

SPONSORS

Sponsored by the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Department of Art and Art History, College of Arts and Humanities, and Manoa Arts & Minds, a partnership that cultivates the mind and spotlights the best of art, music, theater, dance and special performances at UH Manoa http://www.manoa.hawaii.edu/chancellor/arts_minds/; and supported by grants from the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts through appropriations from the Legislature of the State of Hawaii and by the National Endowment for the Arts; and by national, state, corporate, and local institutions of the visiting artists.

HOURS & ADMISSION

Monday - Friday 10:30-5:00; Sunday 12:00-5:00.
Closed Saturdays; November 11, Veterans Day; November 24 & 25, Thanksgiving Day.
Admission is free. Donations are appreciated.
Parking fees may apply.

SPECIAL EVENTS

All events are free and open to the public. The schedule of events may be subject to change. Parking fees may apply. For the latest information and more details go to http://www.hawaii.edu/art/exhibitions/art_gallery/ or call 808-956-6888.

Opening Program

Sunday, October 23, from 2:00-3:00 p.m.
UHM Art Auditorium, Room 132

Reflections on Five East-West Ceramics Collaborations
Keynote speaker: Suzanne Wolfe, Professor, Department of Art and Art History, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Co-Curator of East-West Ceramics Collaboration V Workshop and Exhibition. Wolfe has taught ceramics and the history of ceramics at the Department of Art and Art History for more than 40 years and has organized seven ceramics workshops since 1995. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally.

Opening Reception

Sunday, October 23, from 3:00-5:00 p.m. The public is invited.

Gallery Tours

Sundays, 2:00-3:00 p.m.

Nov. 6, Nov. 20, Dec. 4: Led by Brad Evan Taylor, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Art and Art History, UHM, and Co-Curator of East-West Ceramics Collaboration V Workshop and Exhibition.

Nov. 13: Led by Suzanne Wolfe, Professor, Dept. of Art and Art History, UHM, and Co-Curator of East-West Ceramics Collaboration V Workshop and Exhibition.

Special Exhibition

East-West Ceramics Collaboration V Student Exhibition
Features new works by UHM art students who assisted in all phases of the East-West Ceramics Collaboration V Workshop
Commons Gallery, University of Hawaii at Manoa
October 23 - 28, 2011
Hours: Monday - Friday 10:30-4:00; Sunday 12:00-5:00

UPCOMING VIDEO

East-West Ceramics Collaboration V Workshop
Features highlights of the artists and the workshop
Produced by Malamalama, The Magazine of the University of Hawaii System
Available in late October at www.hawaii.edu/malamalama/

EXHIBITION SUMMARY

What happens when 12 international ceramics artists get together to work and play with more than a half ton of clay for four full weeks? Working side by side, this group of ceramics professionals spent long hours together sharing their cultures, ideas, and views about art. As the final hours of the East-West Ceramics Collaboration V Workshop approached and the artists worked feverishly to complete the finishing touches to their works, the anticipation increased. Out of the clay, a variety of concepts and forms had taken shape, textures and patterns had appeared, and glazes and decals had brought colors, images, and text to the surfaces.

These exciting, new ceramic works will be shown in East-West Ceramics Collaboration V: The Exhibition, which highlights the fall 2011 semester at the University of Hawaii Art Gallery. If the four previous East-West Ceramics Collaborations serve as indicators, there will be something to engage every visitor to this exhibition-from graceful porcelain, bold abstract sculptural forms, traditional vessels, to humorous flights of fancy. Many of the artworks will be available for purchase.

"I am wiped out . . . again!" laughed Suzanne Wolfe, professor of art from the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, as she gazed around a room filled with recently-fired pieces that were created during the workshop. "The workshop was truly exciting. There was a lot of exchange and collaboration, hard work, long hours, camaraderie, and fun. It was a great experience for the art students who assisted with the workshop and worked with the professionals."

"We hope that the visiting artists will return home and develop similar workshops to continue this kind of exchange. The upcoming exhibition presents an excellent opportunity for everyone to see the tremendous potential and variety that clay offers as a medium," stated Brad Evan Taylor, assistant professor of art from the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Taylor and Wolfe co-coordinated and co-curated the East-West Ceramics Collaboration V Workshop and Exhibition that brought together the artists from around the Pacific Rim. The invited artists included:

Chang Ching-Yuan (Taiwan, http://www.clayworks-turns30.org/history/67), professor at Tainan National University of the Arts, changes traditional forms to create a new vessel aesthetic. He creates pairs of seemingly disparate works, however closer examination reveals the intricate relationship within each pair.

Chang NamSook (Korea, http://www.otagopolytechnic.ac.nz/schools-departments/art/career-opportunties/namsook-chang-profile.html) explores intimate psychological states in large-scale sculptural forms and creates clay coat hangers that carry memories from the past.

Rosario Guillermo (Mexico, http://rosarioguillermo.com/) wrote a book on the history of ceramic sculpture in Mexico. She often works with wood and clay to create large-scale sculptural forms that are both sensual and erotic.

Sin-ying Ho (Hong Kong, U.S.A., http://www.sinyingho.com/home), associate professor at Queens College of the City University of New York, uses image transfer techniques to reflect the influence of western consumerism on contemporary Chinese culture.

Garth Johnson (U.S.A., http://wondabread.com/) is interested in pop culture, music, and strange situations, and says he sometimes struggles with his hands to create something interesting. His ceramic hip-hop-infused luxury vessels combine commercial containers with handles and spouts taken from silver coffee and tea pots. Johnson also hunts for sets of matching dinner plates. He uses a hypodermic needle to remove paint from a paint ball casing, injects the empty shell with a ceramic overglaze, loads it into a paint gun, and fires at a dinner plate to create a unique piece. "Look at the quality of these lines. You would never get a result like this even if you painted for a thousand years," he said. Johnson also demonstrated his "Egg-Bot" machine during the workshop. Directed by Johnson's computer, the "Egg-Bot" scratched patterns into the clay slip on hollow, egg-shaped forms. Occasionally the device hit a glitch and the patterns went askew, but the artist welcomed the deviation. The "eggs" were transformed into small cups.

Ian Johnston (Canada, http://www.ianjohnstonstudio.com/) is an architect turned ceramic sculptor. His work is about experimentation with processes that are not common to ceramics. He currently combines the technique of vacuum-forming and block-printing on clay to create multiple pieces for his large-scale installations. For his work in the exhibition, Johnston invited the other workshop artists to collaborate on the surface treatment.

Inchin Lee (Korea, http://www.thoart.com/en/potters/potters_career.asp?id=23&name=Lee%20In-Jin), professor at Hongik University, produces robust forms that reinterpret traditional Korean vessels.

Ayumi Shigematsu (Japan, http://www.modern-ceramic-art.com/english/img/sigematu/sigematu.html), professor at Kyoto University of the Arts, is recognized for her abstract sculptural forms that reference body parts. She uses coils of clay to build the interconnected tubes of her sensually shaped sculptures. "The tube is one of nature's fundamental structures, and coil-making is similar to natural growth," she said. With exquisite, subtly shaded pastel pinks and greens, and orifices that lead to unknown depths, Shigematsu's sculptures are at the same time alluring, seductive, and menacing. She begins a piece by manipulating a small lump of clay. With her intuitive touch, it eventually transforms into her unusual shapes that are then recreated on a larger scale.

Vipoo Srivilasa (Thailand and Australia, http://www.vipoo.com/default.aspx) is an independent studio artist who works both in his native Thailand and in his adopted country, Australia. Describing himself as a "Thai-born Australian artist," he fluidly combines eastern and western influences. He creates quirky dinnerware that becomes part of events that deal with social interaction through a focus on food preparation and consumption. "Most of my work at the workshop is about collaboration-intentional or unintentional," the artist vivaciously explained. He collaborated with artists, students, and visitors during the workshop to create a number of pieces. However, serendipity brought in an additional collaborator; an unexpected kiln incident caused three separate figures to lean on each other and fuse together. The artist was delighted with the surprise, and immediately bubbled with more ideas.

Zhang Jingjing (People's Republic of China, http://www.duolunmoma.org/exhibitions_&_events/upcoming_e_Three%20ceramic%20sisters.html), professor and associate dean at the Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute, People's Republic of China, varies her interests between painting on more traditional forms and by creating abstract sculpture using thrown porcelain elements. During the workshop she used porcelain to create undulating ribbons and graceful, elegant arcs.

Rounding out the group from the ceramics program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa were:

Brad Evan Taylor (U.S.A., http://accessceramics.org/results/artist/136/), assistant professor of art at the University of Hawaii at Manoa who previously taught ceramics in Korea, constantly thinks about geology, landscape, and the environment. He is known for large-scale works that test the limits of clay.

Suzanne Wolfe (U.S.A., http://www.aic-iac.org/members/usa/wolfe/wolfe.html), professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, specializes in mold-making and image transfer techniques. Her work deals with language and its layers of meaning. She often combines text and images on vessel and sculptural forms to create narratives that refer to social or historical issues.

PUBLICATION

A CD is planned for the East-West Ceramics Collaboration V Workshop and Exhibition. Please contact Suzanne Wolfe at 808-956-5264 or email <swolfe@hawaii.edu> for further information.

PHOTOS

High-resolution digital images for publicity purposes are available upon request.

WEBSITE

Please visit http://www.hawaii.edu/art/exhibitions/art_gallery/ for more information.

University of Hawaii System
Established in 1907 and fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the University of Hawaii is the state's sole public system of higher education. The UH System provides an array of undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees and community programs on 10 campuses and through educational, training, and research centers across the state. UH enrolls more than 50,000 students from Hawaii, the U.S. mainland, and around the world. For more information visit www.hawaii.edu.

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University Of Hawaii Art Gallery - East-West Ceramics Collaboration V

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