C eramic ExcellenceF E L L O W S H I P S AT T H E A R C H I E B R AY F O U N D AT I O N2 0 1 0 – 2 011

Annually, the Archie BrayFoundation invites a critic to spend time at the Bray—to meet with the artists, experience theBray’s unique environment and develop essays for thefellowship exhibition catalogue. This year the residency wasawarded to Susannah Israel.Susannah is an artist, writer and educator. She lives in East Oakland, California.

It has been a rare pleasure to be the 2011 Jentel Critic at Archie Bray.Ceramic practice is so rich in exchange and collaboration that is haslong been characterized as a conversation.1

Because the catalogue for the annual fellowship exhibition is rightlytitled Ceramic Excellence, I considered the meaning of excellence: to surpass limits, exceed previous achievements and set new limits. In order to elicit proof of such superlative performance, I formallyinterviewed each artist, rigorously investigating process, practice and philosophy.

Now this did happen. But as my questions were answered and greatlyenlarged upon, the discussion developed both depth and excitement.Hours passed unnoticed and voluminous pages of notes were borneaway, like treasure, for the final writing of these essays. In the studiokitchen and hallway, more conversation brought additional insight fromall the resident artists.

For a short time and on very short notice, I was taken into the heart ofthe life of the Bray community. The residents shared intensely personalsources of inspiration and deeply thoughtful underpinnings for theirphilosophies. Commitment, discipline and focus characterize theprocess and the practice of these five artists. In making excellent work,they have indeed surpassed previous limits. But the direction in whichthis leads does not simply establish a new set of limits.

They have intrigued me by proposing unexpected prospects for thefuture of contemporary ceramics. There is a clear message developingin the unified ways in which these different artists work and think. They are articulating a new perspective, as I see it; perhaps, there are no limits.

–Susannah Israel

Schjeldahl, Peter, ed. Shards. Ceramic Arts Foundation: Santa Monica, 1994. “I became party to a conversation that is open and civil with no sacrifice of seriousness and passion.”

Aaron BensonMJD Fellow

Nicholas BivinsMatsutani Fellow

Jana EvansTaunt Fellow

Mathew McConnellLilian Fellow

Courtney MurphyLincoln Fellow

FELLOWSHIPS AT THE ARCHIE BRAY FOUNDATION2010– 2011

1

Plane geometry and plain geometry.Intricately related forms combiningpatinated stoneware with concreteand wood are pinioned withmassive hardware. Linear elementsextending into space explore anddefine new shapes. Meticulouslylayered patinas consider the effectsof time and the signs of hard work. Cubic variants are resectedand reconfigured to create newgeometries. Concrete basesprovide a stable foundation for the entire aggregation. AaronBenson’s structures reference trust,sanctuary and stability.

These bold combinations, joiningthree different materials, threedifferent types of form and threedifferent surfaces, are secured bylarge zinc-plated bolts. Bensonchooses his materials to connectwith his viewer’s perceptions andexperience. The textures of woodand concrete are familiar andpeople easily recognize thehardware. The conversation is all about the experienced world.The bolts provide contrast with

his color choices and give a jolt ofthe unexpected.1 Creating a secureassembly with a trustworthybalance by juxtaposition of unlikeforms, Benson asks, “How far can I extend balance with structuralinterrelationships?”

Benson’s balancing act includesworking on the Bray maintenancecrew. I first saw him pruning a tree.Hours later, he was fixing theplumbing in the resident studio.Only when I located his workspaceto schedule a studio visit did Irealize he was the 2010–2011 MJDFellow. We scheduled our meetingfor the following day becauseBenson was leaving shortly tospend time at home. Benson’sfamily is critical to his integrity as an artist. He and Allison SteeleBenson, also an artist, have a lovelyyoung daughter and infant son. The marriage partnership rangesfrom sharing the responsibilities and rewards of parenting to creative exchanges about art. Allison’s commitment to thechildren’s daily nurture and hersupport of Benson’s residency areintegral to the family’s harmony and stability. I do not propose asimplistic interpretation of whatthese elements represent inBenson’s work. I do find myselfobserving their interplay with deeperunderstanding of the relevance of the personal in his inquiry.

Benson’s early pieces are verticallysymmetrical, some held in place by cables, like heavy factorymachinery. Recent work inhabitsmore space. Every new elementadded shifts the visual balance,changing mass, line and surfaceinto a new aggregate form. Oncloser examination of the work I see how the bolts that secure theassemblage can be read in thecontext of a mechanical pinion.Here is a sense of mobility anddynamic balance, creating afunctioning new dimension wherestructural integrity is securelymaintained by accommodatingchange. Perhaps this is a dynamicmachine we’re seeing in a momentof repose?

Upon completing the MJDfellowship year, Benson will departthe Bray for graduate study atAlfred University, where he isalready planning to work very hard.He’s started making houses ininterlocking assemblies that fitneatly together but can also bedismantled. Some are upside down.Musing about the Bray residentexperience, Benson says, “It’sexpanded my view to a life’s worthof clay ahead.”

1Hickey, Dave. Air Guitar: Essays on Art &Democracy. The Foundation For AdvancedCritical Studies: Santa Monica, 1997. “That subtle jolt of visual defamiliarizationas a prelude to delight.”

AARON BENSON MJD FELLOW

the architecture of balance

Building Parameters VII, 2010porcelain, wood, concrete, steel

11" x 17.5" x 17.5"

Building Parameters XI (Settled), 2010stoneware, wood, concrete, steel29" x 5.5" x 21"

Nicholas Bivins makes functionalhandmade pottery, elegant andsublimely practical. The forms arespare, sleek and visually pared, with single lines of decoration andcorner accents of color. Coffee andwhiskey sets with trays combinefunction, design and precisepresentation. The trays provideeach piece its home. It is aninvitation, not a constraint, abeautiful argument for perfection as a daily aesthetic experience.

The squared coffee cups fit the foldof the hand. The corner positionedopposite the handle is preciselywhere we put our lips to drink. The shape is based on efficientdesign, delivering the coffee in a“predetermined location, not ananonymous 360-degree curve.”Bivins takes this seriously. To takecoursework in computerizedimaging during graduate school, he had to convince both the art and mechanical engineeringdepartments to agree. Suchdetermination sets the bar forBivins’ pursuit of “serving the workin its ultimate purpose.”

Ultimate purpose is an unusual and provocative goal, leading intoBivins’ favorite aspects of design.Design is how it looks and how it works, “a noun and a verb.” Adding inutile features produces

excess, an unsatisfying compilationof nonessentials. Designing forefficiency is designing for whatworks best. But what is efficiency?A reduction to essentials, whereessence is the spirit and theirreducible quality.

Considering efficiency pushedBivins to question such traditionalthinking as the round pot. Bivinsenjoyed making utilitarian forms on the potter’s wheel. He sees thewheel tradition, with its millennia of human history, as key in hisevolution of utilitarian design. Butwith digital imaging, everythingchanged. Now the pots have theirsource in Bivins’ imagination, aspure form. To make them, Bivinsharnesses the complementaryfunctions of the computer and thehuman brain. Where the computerexceeds in numerical computation,the human mind (excels) in patternrecognition and the intuitive leap tonew solutions.1 Hands-on remainsintegral for Bivins: “I am a maker.The idea is not finished until I makeit.” His process spans the gamutfrom generating the ideas to slipcasting and glazing the work. Bivins defines intimacy in spatialterms: horizon, nearand close. “At yourhand is near,” he says,“at your nose isintimate.”

The lines on the coffee cups areintricate perspective drawings, eachprogressively diminishing in sizedown to the limit of the humanvisual range. These coded designsmove the user from near tointimate. Close reading of the workrewards the user with awareness of its intentional complexity.

An inherent social consciousnessand generosity inform Bivins’intentions. Notably, Bivins says user, a term of the digital age, not customer. The contextualimplication is that these objects are needed and will be used. Themaker’s responsibility is to deliverthe object designed to work best.This attitude is a subversion of artobject commodification. Socialconditioning associates qualitydesign with wealth and socialstatus, predicated upon the cost of excellence. Bivins overturnsthese expectations by deliveringaccessible utilitarian ceramic work,designed to perfection.

1Cooley, Mike. From Bruneschelli toCADCAM, pp 197–207. Design After Modernism, John Thackara, ed.Thames & Hudson: NY 1988.

NICHOLAS BIVINS MATSUTANI FELLOW

the practice of perfection

Saturday Morning, 2011pots: porcelain, glaze, decalstray: MDF, automotive paint11" x 15" x 18"

Toasting Cups, 2011pots: porcelain, glaze, decals tray: MDF, automotive paint

10" x 14" x 10"

Jana Evans’ workspace is a festivalof usable ceramics in wheel-thrownand altered porcelain with drawnand glazed patterns. Evans iscommitted to utility for its power to“create an intimate relationship ofuse/reaching out to others in theform of a handmade cup, bowl orjar.” The porcelain is a pristinecanvas for her precise patterns. The pieces are grouped together insets of stacking bowls, sets of tallcylindrical cups and sets of cupsand saucers that accompany roundteapots with flattened bases. Thereare many groups of these sets, acornucopia of plenty, and theirsurfaces, too, have an exuberantmultiplicity, with intensive patternsof circles and rings.

Multiplicity is the human conditionthat compels Evans. Suzi Gabliktalks about the need for making art as if the world mattered,1

and Evans is doing exactly that.

Her thesis show, “Potluck,” involvedthe gifting of all her cups andprovided a focal point for celebratingceramics in the larger community,and supplied a food bank with 440 pounds of food. Evans says“the objects affirm the value ofexperience, demonstrating thatceramics can and should be usedand owned by everyone.”

The quality of the object in questionis very important to Evans, whodedicates hours of meticulous workto getting the details right.Hundreds of fine lines are incisedinto the clay surface before color islaid in. Evans enjoys placing lines ofa different color to change andaccent the color scheme—these,she says, are colors that are “notbehaving.” The patterns areinclusive of the different coloredlines—it’s OK to resonate on yourown wavelength. Like grace notesin music, they do not disrupt but

enhance the wholewith a touch of intrigueand “the unexpectedfactor.” Optical effectsoccur, shifting of color and pattern; a horizontal band isactually made up ofvertical lines. Evansfinds the process ofrepetitive applicationreleases energy, “like making a wish.”

Such repetition of lines andcomplex designs brings to mind thePattern & Decoration movement,but there is a critical difference.Evans’ patterns never interrelatecontiguously. Separate lines makeup bands and hexagons; dots andcircles are also separate. They arediscrete individuals meeting on acommon ground, providing a visualcue for the philosophy of the artist.

Deeply thoughtful and engaged inan introspective work practice,Evans remains keenly alert andreceptive to influences around her.The generous curves of a 1950sStudebaker truck, in a photo onEvans’ studio wall, are not simply a design reference; it’s hergrandfather’s truck. An importantfigure in her life, he died at 95, while she was in graduate school.Always close with Grandpa Chet,Evans says that in his last years she learned more, through sharingphotos, about the younger manwho organized “pancake feeds” in his small town. Kind andgenerous, he was matter of factabout social consciousness and its practice. Evans carries thischarge with her today.

1Gablik, Suzi. The Reenchantment of Art.Making Art As If the World Mattered:Models of Partnership. Thames and Hudson: NY 1992.

JANA EVANS TAUNT FELLOW

making art as if the world mattered

Espresso Set, 2011porcelain, glaze, underglaze

2.5" x 3.25" x 3.5" each

Bowls, 2011porcelain, glaze, underglaze2.75" x 5" x 5" each

Mathew McConnell doesn’t want tomake you a bowl or a cup on thewheel, although he certainly can.Utilitarian standards of appearanceand function do not concern him.McConnell’s exhibition, “ManyThings New and More of the Same,”reads like a museum collection ofskillfully modeled and recognizableobjects, all dark grey: Olmecfigures, 30 taco sauce bottles,Brancusi’s Kiss, preColumbian jars,Marilyn Levine shoes, kiln bricks,William the hippo, an uncannyreplica of a slide projector andmore, in no discernable order.What’s happened here? What arethese relationships? How does thisall work? These are McConnell’sreworked, “simulated, manipulated,exalted and subverted” objects.

McConnell begins by choosing a singular image or a form torecreate, changing the compositionalformat in an intuitive, transformativeprocess. He calls his practicereconciliation. Why reconciliation?McConnell begins with investigatinga specific work and eliciting thecompelling element. His search is“ruthlessly contemporary,” to avoidestablished icons of visual culture.McConnell describes his process of gathering: “at our moment inhistory, we have a tremendoushuman capacity for reproducingideas; there is an infinity of ‘stolen’sources. A known source is a

singular point. In quantummechanics, the singular state is anuneasy one, but I can’t reconcilesomething without pinpointing its origin.”

Choosing and appropriating thesemodels is the beginning of engagingin the topic. Once begun, allelements and decisions must work for the whole. Each part ofmaking calls for the next step andcommitment to the idea means theartist “has to do whatever it takes.”The piece develops by reworkingformal qualities of the source.McConnell is interested in line andgrace that explore “a territorylocated between the realm of the observed and the realm of the self—if a unique object canrepresent the self.”

The ekphrastic process is wellsuited when consideringMcConnell’s work, as a methodsimilar to his approach of formalremaking. Reconciling my thinkingabout art and ceramic practice withMcConnell’s fearless grab at currentart topologies is a triple challenge.Writing about art changes theexperience, according to arthistorians themselves.1 Historically,ekphrasis was most highly valuedwhen the written description of the art work was of such lyricbeauty that it transformed how the object was perceived.

The scale of remaking, saysMcConnell, ranges from 1 to 99degrees. When you take something,it’s changed by that very action. Is it successful? Only the artist canmake that determination, if it caneven be made, “I am a constantlymoving target,” says McConnell,“and my sources are also moving.”

Keeping up with McConnell’s fast-paced thought process is like anaerial adventure in a county fairbiplane, taking us through a seriesof loops, reversals and completeinversions of previous thoughtpatterns. An object maker proficientin ceramics technique, McConnelloffers an enticing glimpse into afuture area of ceramics practice,strongly grounded in traditionalknowledge and fully engaged withthe larger world of art.

1Hirsch, Edward. Transforming Vision:Writers On Art. Bullfinch Press: The ArtInstitute of Chicago, 1994. “There is alwayssomething transgressive in writing aboutthe visual arts, in approaching the work in words. A border is crossed and aboundary breached as the writer enters the spatial realm.”

MATHEW McCONNELL LILIAN FELLOW

ruthlesslycontemporary clay

Bas Jan, You're Not So Pretty Any More, 2011

mixed media12' x 7' x 7'

Many Things New and More of the Same, installation detail, 2010raku-fired earthenwaredimensions vary

Poised and sturdy, CourtneyMurphy’s coffee cup lives on mydesk, its warm yellow glaze satin tothe touch. The vertical walls haveseven drawings. Next to the handleare two drawings planted by asingle dark brown line. I say plantedbecause each line meets theterracotta clay of the base exactlyat the edge of the smooth paleyellow glaze.

These are not botanical replicas, yet there is a sense of their growingupward. The left line ends in thepink interior oval in the center of thedrawing—I’ll call it a plant—a plantwith two rings of light pink insideburnt orange, each defined by aclean line in brown. The lines looklike print but are immersed in theglaze, a tactile contradiction to myeyes. I rub them often, absently.The second drawing is taller than its pink-and-orange companion, itsdouble ring soft green with yellowglaze inside. There’s a blush ofyellow through the green ring.

Between the two drawings are fourround brown dots. It looks like thedrawings notice each other. Thedots describe an arc, indicatingmotion, like tossing a ball up. At theapogee, the curve expands anddescends. The drawings are talkingto one another, in a language oficon, color and motion, but thoughthat lexicon is not translatable, itsays connection, with space tostand in and space between.

Murphy is a poet of form. Her latestwork with terracotta has morevolume; she chose terracotta overporcelain in order to increase scale.The big forms are round or oval,also glazed in warm white andyellow with iconic drawings. Thereis more space around the drawings.The oval forms could be simpleboats, and some of the drawingscould be abstracted sails.

Murphy’s use of lyric form does not stop with larger scale and anopening out of the pictorial space,

however. She is engaged in a visual conversation about the affinityof like forms. Inside the large,straight-walled bowls are smallerforms, perfect replicas in proportionand surface of the pieces they rest within.

Murphy enjoys thinking about howvariations in handmade work call to one person, making the choice of a piece an implicit agreementbetween maker and user. Her cupsoften have small, unexpecteddrawings that appear during use,hidden gifts of humor andindividuality.

The gift to be found in the large new forms also requires interaction.Rubbing the lines on my cup, I thinkabout the way the big bowls drawus in. The bottom edges are hiddenin shadow, confounding our quickglance. Touched, they rock gentlyon softly rounded bases. It’sstartling to have a ceramic piecemove, but don’t worry. It’s just ashort distance, a gentle arc ofcommunication, before the piececomes back to true. A balancedresponse to touch, the quietresuming of repose, offer a largerpoem to my hand, one that neednot be contained.

COURTNEY MURPHY LINCOLN FELLOW

a poem in my hand

Nesting Set, 2011earthenware 6" x 11" x 11"

Two Mugs, 2011 earthenware3.5" x 5" x 3.5"

Past Fellowship Recipients

1999Marc Digeros, Taunt Fellow Sharon Brush, Myhre Fellow

2000Eric Eley, Taunt Fellow John Byrd, Myhre Fellow

2001Jiman Choi, Taunt Fellow John Utgaard, Lilian Fellow

2002Jason Walker, Taunt Fellow Sandra Trujillo, Lilian Fellow

2003Jeremy Kane, Taunt Fellow Karen Swyler, Lilian Fellow

2004Trey Hill, Taunt Fellow Miranda Howe, Lilian Fellow Kowkie Durst, Lincoln Fellow

2005Koi Neng Liew, Taunt Fellow Deborah Schwartzkopf, Lilian Fellow Melissa Mencini, Lincoln Fellow

2006Jennifer Allen, Taunt FellowChristina West, Lilian FellowJoseph Pintz, Lincoln Fellow

2007Jeremy Hatch, Taunt FellowBrian Rochefort, Lilian FellowRenee Audette, Lincoln FellowAnne Drew Potter, Matsutani Fellow

2008Kevin Snipes, Taunt FellowDonna Flanery, Lilian FellowBirdie Boone, Lincoln FellowDavid Peters, Matsutani FellowNathan Craven, MJD Fellow

2009Martha Grover, Taunt FellowSean Irwin, Lilian FellowGwendolyn Yoppolo, Lincoln FellowKelly Garrett Rathbone,Matsutani Fellow

Kensuke Yamada, MJD Fellow

Board of DirectorsJon Satre, PresidentNorma Tirrell, Vice PresidentWally Bivins, SecretaryMargaret Woo, TreasurerRichard BaiterJohn BalistreriSally BrogdenMike CaseyLinda DeolaJulia GallowayJohn GreenAyumi HorieBeth LoAidan MyhreAlan NicholsonSusan RicklefsAnn ShanerBobby SilvermanRebecca SivePatti Warashina

Resident Artist DirectorSteven Young Lee

The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts has alwaysbeen an ongoing experiment, aplace and experience with noartistic boundaries. The extensivefacilities, the freedom to exploreand the creative exchange thatoccurs within the community ofresident artists provide a profoundopportunity for artistic growth, both for individual artists and forthe field of ceramics.

To further encourage the Bray “experiment,” Robert and SuzanneTaunt established the TauntFellowship in 1998. Inspired by the Taunts’ vision and generosity,others established additionalawards, including the MyhreFellowship in 1999 and 2000,

the Lilian Fellowship since 2001,the Lincoln Fellowship in 2004, the Matsutani Fellowship in 2006and, most recently, the MJDFellowship, established in 2007.

Currently, the Taunt, Lilian, Lincoln,Matsutani and MJD fellowshipseach provide $5,000 and a one-year residency to a ceramic artistwho demonstrates exceptionalmerit and promise, allowing themto focus more completely onproducing and exhibiting asignificant body of work during their fellowship year.

Individuals wishing to establish a fellowship at the Archie BrayFoundation are encouraged tocontact resident artist directorSteven Young Lee.

This publication is generously funded by the Joliet Foundation.