Unlike previous clay biennials where functional and sculptural were featured together, this year's show focuses entirely on objects which have a functional use. The urging of a local potter and the desire to explore a new facet of our biennial exhibitions have resulted in what I hope you will agree is a fabulous show. In fact, our esteemed Juror, Val Cushing, known as an artist, teacher and Professor Emeritus at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, praised the selections for reflecting a "golden age" of ceramics: "a time when there is widespread understanding and expression of ideas and concepts that manifest themselves through great skills and technical comprehension, in imaginative and creative forms." I don't think that I could have said it any better.

--Julienne Richardson, Shop & Gallery Manager

ABOUT THE AWARD WINNERS

Elisa DiFeo
Cheese Dish, Canister Porcelain Clay
"I mark the surfaces in a variety of ways to stress an interaction between the form and surface. The visual volume of the pieces change with incised lines counter pointed with dots. Contemporary design objects, clothing, and graphics are what inspire these surfaces. I attempt to achieve a sense of casual elegance in my forms using a combination of soft and hard edges because I enjoy the different ways they affect light. The shapes are derived from human and animal body parts, although based on specific functional objects. Capturing volume, light, and physicality with paint is similar to the way I want to deal with clay. I use full glazes that produce layers, with crisp cool colors.. I think my pieces feel formal, however I want the essence of the hand to imply casual."

Carl Erickson
Teapot with Driftwood, Porcelain, Wood
Erickson's goal with his porcelain pottery is to "create beautifully crafted and enduring pottery that speaks of Minnesota's wilderness." He is continually inspired by the woods, fields and waters of his home state in creating his work, frequently including a motif of blowing leaves, flying birds and naturalistic stamps. Juror Cushing praised Erickson's work: "This piece is an example of masterful skills brought to a piece meant for daily use, and incorporating imagination and personal expression." Its use will give satisfaction and pleasure in use-both functionally and visually."

Jeffrey Michael Nichols
Red/Chartreuse Teapot, Wheel Thrown Earthenware
"The relationship between form and surface in an important impetus for the creation of my new vessel series. The starting point may be a historical reference or simply and improvisational approach to the wheel. The concept of wabi-sabi, the Japanese aesthetic in which elegance and refinement are achieved by bringing out the natural characteristics inherent materials, has been a major influence on the development of my work. As an artist, I try to push beyond traditional surface decorating and glazing techniques while still paying homage to classical forms. It is the visual interaction between the simple wheel thrown vessel and the color-laden surface that creates unity within the piece. Red/Chartreuse Teapot inspired Cushing to extol its "radiant use of glaze. It will light up any table almost as though it's on fire, you can feel the heat of the tea inside by the effect of the glazing."

Darby Ortolano
Nesting Bowls I, Stoneware
Ortolano is inspired by the forms she observes in her garden, creating wheel-thrown and hand-built nesting bowls and other vessels that resemble natural forms. Her white stoneware vessels are covered with colorful glazes. Most of the pottery she creates is functional and highly decorated. Cushing says of her Nesting Bowls: "This piece is visually exciting, beautifully glazed with subtle information. It will be a 'conversation piece' on the table and in use. It brings the idea of function to another land."

Megan Bogonovich
Coral Floral Platter Pair, Majolica on Terra Cotta
Bogonovich's majolica Platter Pair belies the influence of her background creating art in two dimensions. Cushing calls this vibrantly painted piece "an exceptional example of painting on three dimensional form. It works as painting via composition, color choice and imagination, all fitted to a 'moving' object in space."

JUROR STATEMENT
American Ceramics has reached a maturity of expression and expertise that many of us, who began our careers in the late 1950's, anticipated, but were just beginning to experience. The viewer of this year's Clay Biennial will see work ranging from stimulating, fresh, new ideas to more traditional pieces, but all done with consummate skills and a real understanding of the exciting possibilities of the ceramic medium. I have written elsewhere that I see ceramic art, world wide, entering a golden age. Many of the pieces in this show reflect this belief. A "golden age" in an art form implies, to me, a time when there is widespread understanding and expression of ideas and concepts that manifest themselves, through great skills and technical comprehension, in imaginative and creative forms.

From the entries submitted, I tried to select not only those that seemed the best to my eye, but those that also celebrated the diversity, technical mastery, and the imaginative potential of this rich and expressive medium. Most of this work is about combining beauty and imagination in pieces that can actually be used. As far as I can tell, in viewing these slides, all these pieces meet that stipulation, although some place a bit more emphasis on purely visual aesthetic ideas. It is sometimes considered to be a severe limitation upon the artist to make objects for occasional use or every day use. A limitation, it may be, but all art, in any media, has particular kinds of limitations. The artist chooses his or her medium and its inherent limits. In visual art, it is only the elitist and the misinformed that propose the outmoded notion that only painting and sculpture is art.

The spirit of the artist and the things they make are alive and well in the exhibition. I urge the viewers to imagine using these pieces in their homes and having access to them whenever the need or desire arises. They can fill your hearts and minds with pleasure and beauty. Pleasure, in use and beauty, in contemplation.

-- Val M. Cushing Exhibition Juror