Photos and reporting by Robert Kokenyesi, Ceramic Artist, Beachfront Pottery, Godfrey, IL, 62035, USA. If you enjoyed this post, then give me a “like” on my Facebook page. There is additional information about Beachfront Pottery on my web site.
The Venue
The “Menagerie” all media exhibit took place in the gallery of ArtStLouis in St Louis from August 4 through September 13, 2018
The Call for Entry
“Menagerie” is a follow-up to the 2016 exhibition, “Creatures.” “Menagerie” is a juried visual art exhibition that will feature artworks that are about or depict animals, beasts, creatures, real or imagined. All interpretations of this theme are welcome. Artworks in all media, techniques and styles are encouraged. Open to artists 21+ in the St. Louis, MO region.
The Ceramic Art Pieces
This piece was a happy surprise in the exhibit. wonderfully shaped jar with very attractive ivory body and darker grey top. The images are nicely executed. I didn’t find a web site or social media site for Jerry. However, I came across a St Louis Dispatch article, and therein you find an incredible story. “The signature on the foot of every piece of pottery, “JC” Williams, honors his brother, John Carl. Williams carves, stamps, paints and presses symbols into the clay. He arranges them with precision. The yin and yang. Light and dark. Circles and structures to let in the ancestors. Feathers and eagles. Starbursts, moons, suns. Covered bridges, pines, forest scenes — each mark holds meaning.” For this piece his artists statement reads “The title of this piece “Peace Please” is reflected in the peace signs. All things the Creator made deserve respect. All beings, land, sea, sky, four legged, two legged, trees and plants need each other.”
On her sales site she writes that “Most of her inspiration comes from exploring nature. She utilizes a variety of wood and metal tools to create freehand drawings, textures, and patterns on the clay surface of her lidded jars and boxes through hand building with assemblage of slabs, coils, and high fire wire.” Her statement on this pieces says: “Walking pots sprung from my imaginations as I pocketed stones and bits on the hiking trail. I envisioned creatures with legs to travel and pockets to hold treasures on the way. Each Walking Pot embodies its own unique personality with strong legs for the journey, and pockets fort he gathered mementos. What adventures await them next?”
A great example of my water-rope style sculptures. The water rope style is one way to construct ceramic sculptures by using building units or modules. Each brown element that looks like a stick is what I call a water rope. They’re made one by one pinching a slice of rolled out clay. You can read about the construction of this sculpture in THIS BLOG OF MINE.
Manta rays have been around for 300-400 million years, and to survive that long the mantas must have essential elements, like agility, being opportunistic, and being one with the oceans. This sculpture explores those elements in a manta ancestor.