Opening Reception: Saturday, June 10, 6-8pm

Concurrent solo exhibitions featuring 2016-17 Barbara Rittenberg Fellow Natalia Arbalaez and Artist-in-Residence Logan Wall

For 60 years, artists have been advancing their careers at Clay Art Center. Our Residency program, which commences each year in September, is uniquely designed for emerging artists who need time and space to develop their voices.  Residents gain invaluable experience working in a community environment, teaching classes, sharing their technical knowledge and expertise, and managing many jobs around the studio. Clay Art Center provides a supportive ceramic community, while appreciating the need for privacy and independent work.  This exhibition marks the culmination of their year at Clay Art Center and showcases the development of their artwork since September.

NATALIA ARBELAEZ
I’m a figurative sculptural artist who uses any medium that best exemplifies concepts and ideas. I do often find myself having a preference for clay and how well I’ve responded to the material. Its memory, immediacy, and visceral handling are all qualities that have appealed to me and my psyche. The primal tactility of clay, with its responsiveness and memory extends itself to my ideas of the body. The physical body has a memory to it and memory connects to form. In my process of referencing the body I have forgone the use of an actual and specific body. Because of this I can use the memory of my own body, the body of my family, and extend my memories to places beyond the body.

Some of the topics that I touch upon are my Colombian heritage and culture and the indigenous people of South America. I work with ideas of how these identities are lost through conquest, migration, and time, gained through family, culture, and exploration, and passed down through tradition and genetic memory. I use these influences to contribute to a contemporary dialogue while simultaneously continuing the work of my ancestors.

LOGAN WALL
As a maker of functional ceramics I focus on the experience of the useful object. Having the ability to put an object directly into a persons hand creates a relationship between the maker and user. The way that hands will hold or travel around the piece inform the surface treatments and shapes I use. I visualize a touch that inspires silent moments of unique thought.

Logan focuses on the experience of the useful object. She explores the challenge of designing pottery with sharp lines and precise geometric forms. Logan often works within a specific framework for a group of pieces to create unique versions of one idea. She uses primary shapes in additive and subtractive methods to bring graphic elements to her pieces. Working this way brings attention to the positive and negative shapes within each form. Creating various planes on a three-dimensional object provides different perspectives when addressing the surface with glaze. The way that hands will hold a piece directly informs each composition and surface treatment.