By Felicia Lowenstein Niven
http://www.njlifestyleonline.com
The Art of Clay: A L L F I R E D U P
It began about 10,000 years ago. Man’s desire to form clay into pottery was virtually unstoppable,first with usable vessels that carried water and the like. But ancient pots provide evidence that man had a desire to decorate even that which was utilitarian, opening up a world of possibility for this native substance clay. Eventually that passion turned from practical to ethereal, with clay becoming another medium for art. Sculpture was one thing, but to sculpt with a process that would then fire and make it permanent took this art form to the next level. Today, it’s a rare household that doesn’t own at least one ceramic piece, be it artistic or practical.
This season, the Noyes Museum of Art celebrates the medium of clay with an exhibit of eight area clay artists in “Working It: A Collaboration with the Clay College of Cumberland County College,” now through January 14, 2007. We chatted with three of the artists to provide a more personal glimpse into this exhibit. ——
It began about 10,000 years ago. Man’s desire to form clay into pottery was virtually unstoppable,first with usable vessels that carried water and the like. But ancient pots provide evidence that man had a desire to decorate even that which was utilitarian, opening up a world of possibility for this native substance clay. Eventually that passion turned from practical to ethereal, with clay becoming another medium for art. Sculpture was one thing, but to sculpt with a process that would then fire and make it permanent took this art form to the next level. Today, it’s a rare household that doesn’t own at least one ceramic piece, be it artistic or practical.
This season, the Noyes Museum of Art celebrates the medium of clay with an exhibit of eight area clay artists in “Working It: A Collaboration with the Clay College of Cumberland County College,” now through January 14, 2007. We chatted with three of the artists to provide a more personal glimpse into this exhibit. ——
Alan Willoughby Executive Director, Perkins Center for the Arts
“Trial by fire” is how AlanWilloughby describes the process of creating with ceramics. “It is a process engaging full thought and sense, a collaborative effort between man and fire,” he writes in his artist statement.Willoughby is poetic about his craft, and for good reason. Each time he works in ceramics, he enters a creative dialogue in a quest to understand the deeper meanings
of life and the connections to all things. For Willoughby, it was a connection that began at a boarding school in Iowa. The school didn’t have a large budget for art, so the art teacher took the students to the riverbank where they dug their own clay. They also helped build the kiln. It was an experience Willoughby would never forget. “I continued as an undergrad, majoring in
ceramics, and started selling my pots to earn money,” he said. “I realized if I was going to be
doing this as my career, I should go back to get my Master of Fine Arts.” He earned that distinction atClemson and went on to teach and create, finally landing the job at Perkins Center for the Arts. “I don’t make as many pots as I used to but ceramics is still a vital part of my life,” he acknowledged. Willoughby’s pieces are both sculptural and functional. “I always play back and forth between the two,” he said. “Sculpture is beautiful butso is the decorative oval platter that serves a smoked salmon. Sometimes in our culture, we
take the art out of living, and a medium like ceramics is very much about bringing it back
into our lifestyle.” Willoughby fires his work in a wood kiln because he likes the kind of surfaces that come from the combination of flame and ash. “If I were to fire it in an electric or gas kiln, the surfaces wouldn’t be the same,” he explained. He gets his inspiration from travel, such as
when he ventured down to the Yucatan and Mayan ruins. He’s also inspired by his wife and
fellow exhibiting artist, Linda Shusterman. The pair sometimes collaborates but always
influences each other. “Ideas develop over time,” said Willoughby. “They may start from one source and then you take them in a new direction.”
Jacqueline Sandro Assistant Director, Clay College
Jacqueline Sandro has always loved ceramics. And no other art career would do, not even graphic design which she studied as an accommodation to her parents who wanted something a bit more practical. “I was a graphic design major taking ceramic courses at the Tyler School of Art,” she said. “When my father passed away, I recognized that life is really short and I wanted to be doing something that I loved. So, with the encouragement of a teacher, I enrolled full time in ceramics and pottery at Glassboro State.” Sandro did return to Tyler for her MFA. And
along the way, she found her place in ceramics. “I interned at the Wheaton Arts and Cultural
Center (formerly Wheaton Village),” she said. “I studied with Terry Plasket, one of the other artists in the Noyes show. At Wheaton, I learned a great deal about production pottery and the
business end of ceramics.” Sandro went on to do some adjunct teaching until the opportunity of a lifetime occurred. Millville was revitalizing its downtown into an arts district, and to support that, Cumberland County College was considering opening a ceramics department. Sandro was brought in on the ground floor, first to consult, then to teach and finally as assistant director of Clay College. Today, she’s able to explore her own art when she’s not overseeing her students. “A lot of times when I start out, I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she confessed. “I usually draw the piece first but that’s in two dimensions. In order to understand it, I have to build it in
three dimensions. And then it always changes and evolves.” “Most of my ideas and concepts are autobiographical,” she said. “They’re pretty emotional, too. The piece I call Blood from a Stone is a humanoid form. The middle of the torso is really skinny; it cinches in. That symbolizes tension,
squeezing, pressure. Then it expands to be more volumetric. The piece is about overcoming really stressful, hard times.” “I love working with clay,” she added. “There are so many things you can do with it. You have to invest a lot of time in learning the medium but I love that part of it.”
David Gamber Adjunct Professor Clay College
David Gamber was drawn into ceramics by the tactile experience. “I love that I can touch
it,” he explained. “Working in three dimensions, you’re working with real objects and that was
part of the appeal.” Gamber knew he would be an artist from a very young age. “When I made choices between other things and art, I would always choose art,” he acknowledged. His path led him to get an undergraduate degree in art and a master’s in fine art and ceramics. Now at the Clay College, he works with students sharing the same passion. He started out making vessels and now has progressed to vessels that are not at all functional. “One of the things you do as you’re teaching,” he said, “is that you’re constantly referring to parts of the vessel as human body parts. The sculpture takes on a metaphorical reference to people and bodies. In fact, I have
one piece in the Noyes that is a long line of vessel forms that I call Following the Leader. It’s
about how we tend to follow and not question.” Gamber’s inspiration comes from several
sources, but mostly the things that fascinate him most in life. “There is an African tradition where a shaman has a divining basket,” said Gamber. “It’s a basket with all of these objects, some made, some found. And it’s like reading tea leaves or fortunes—a form of counseling people in what possibilities lie ahead. So I did a piece, divining boats, based on what I learned about
the shaman.” Gamber himself loves to experiment. “I’malways open to what the pieces need to be ‘right,’” he explained. “Sometimes that means trying something new.” “I always encourage my students to ask the question ‘what if...’ about their work,” he said. “And then, if they don’t know the answer, try it and see.”
