Merging Contrasts: Sabbatical Art Exhibition
All the ceramic works in this 2015 exhibition were created during a one year sabbatical study leave. For an artist, the joy of this type of sabbatical lies in the rare opportunity to focus all of one's creative life in the studio.
This year of discovery allowed for a high level of concentration and absorption that fostered adventurous experimentation and the development of ideas through a series of works.
Experimentation with the way flower arranging vessels function was focused on unusual forms of varying heights and multiple chambers. As such, the vessel itself inspires unique ways to present the beauty of plant and flower forms. In addition, contrasting the looseness of seemingly random textures with the purity of smooth surfaces was explored. To unify form and surface decoration, new glazes that enhance textures and retain richness on smooth surfaces were created.
The last development in this journey involved venturing away from function into sculptural expression. Again, contrasts were explored. The interplay of smoothness and texture, geometric and organic form, perhaps, leading the viewer to quiet contemplation of larger forces and concepts of our world...the co-existence of contrasts that merge in to a precarious balance.
