Pacific Northwest Sculptors

Sculptors share knowledge and resources

ceramic

The Cave in Vancouver, Washington hosts show by Top Sculptors from Oregon and Washington

The International Sculpture Center, (the publishers of Sculpture Magazine), some 4 years ago suggested that there be an International Sculpture Day. Not surprisingly sculptors and sculpture organizations around the country thought this was a good idea. 

This is our third year of participation. It is a thing we look forward to all year. Much effort goes into preparations and not enough can be said about the volunteers who put it together. 

This year the event was held at The Cave gallery in Vancouver WA. The gallery mounted a juried show of member’s works for the month of April 2018 with an opening on Friday, April 6th. International Sculpture Day was celebrated on Saturday the 21st. On that day three artists gave talks, demonstrations of welding and ceramic construction were outside and the vacant storefront next door was transformed into a space for immersive and interactive installations. Janet Julian provided acoustic music on a vintage Gibson guitar.

Demonstrations were provided by Dave Gonzo, (welding), and Chayo Wilson, (ceramics). Also featured in that area were additional works by those two artists which included a rather remarkable spider fire pit by Dave. Note the glass eyes glowing from the fire within.

Immersive Works were set up in the vacant storefront next door. Just to the left of the doorframe a 3D printer provided by Proto Pasta of Vancouver was busy squirting out tiny gnomes. The floor, walls and ceiling were festooned with assorted segments of bamboo. Some pieces were meant to be rearranged as one saw fit. Curious items were here and there. Further up a passage was a box fixed to the wall. In it were a number of LEDs strobing in unison. A knob on the side of the box could control the frequency. One inserts one’s head into the box and then manipulates the knob to create the most desirable hallucinations. Not anything like flying monkeys but rather interesting moiré type patterns of dots. Those subject to seizures were clearly warned away. Flying monkeys have never hurt anyone by the way. 

The Belly was just on the other side of the corridor. That was small darkened space lit by a salt lamp, the floor covered with pillows and a soundscape coming from hidden speakers. Artist Talks were introduced by Jennifer Corio in the main gallery. She talked about International Sculpture Day and our participation in it for the past 3 years. George Heath the current president of PNWS introduced the organization and talked of its purposes and goals. Three artists then spoke for about 15 minutes each. Sue Westfall Quast described how her art developed and intersected with life over time. Craig Dorety, a light sculptor, spoke about how the peculiarities of LED lights could be utilized creatively and further how such lighting can interact with the mind. The strobing chamber mentioned in Immersive Works paragraph was one of Craig’s pieces. Chas Martin spoke of creating a piece so as to control the space around it and using that space to elicit a response from the viewer. He also described how his current work developed from line into sculpture.

Sculpture Tools: Favorite tools for creating figurative ceramic sculpture

Andy Kennedy

Some rocks, a fork, a piece of wire, a wooden baseball bat. This is a short list of Favorite Tools for creating figurative ceramic sculpture. The rocks are chunks of concrete and asphalt that fit my hands. They are rough here and sharp there. I have memorized their shapes to intuit the best rock for sculpting the clay in the gesture of the moment. When I am deep in the process, this happens without thought. My name is Andy Ken­nedy and a lump of asphalt has become magical to me.

I asked our Pacific NW Sculp­tors president, George Heath, what would he like for an article in the newsletter? His reply suggested that I write about my bat; a gray, weather beaten, wooden baseball bat. He had seen me sculpting with the bat last September at the Fall Festival for the Arts in Troutdale. We were both demo (demonstra­tion) artists there along with Dave Gonzales. To digress a little, I really recommend being a demo artist. I have done numerous demo gigs with Pacific NW Sculptors, and being with the public and your art process at the same time can make your art more authentic, more responsive, and more real.

Dave Gonzo got a few sec­onds of video of me using my bat and posted it to Instagram. In the video, you will notice that I’m holding the bat in the middle of its length, where it is balanced. This al­lows me to toss it in the air slightly and spin it 180 degrees, like a baton. With that flip the bat adjusts from a club to a prod and there is an easy flow to the gesture. Instead of writing more about this tool or the technique of its use, I’m going to attempt to re­fer to the frame of mind that I have during the process. There is a temp­tation to say, as with the asphalt chunk, this 180 flip happens with­out thinking, because there was no conscious intention to flip the bat. I never practiced this trick or consid­ered ideas such as, “Can I do this?” or “Should I do this?”

I have the sense that the think­ing is accelerated and nonlinear, guided by my focus on crafting the clay figure. I am alert to states of mind that seem suspended, para­doxical, timeless, and irrational. I believe this is what allows an artist to discover new forms and mean­ing. This is why our work can be considered priceless, because the value of this work should not be measured by a linear metric.

There is also an elegance and solidity to linear thought. This how we engineer our work to stand up against gravity. A thought building on the thoughts that came before, as in an essay. The focus of this es­say is tools. The asphalt chunk and baseball bat are both used for blunt force to shape and texture the clay, but for building structure one tool more than any other helps me to sculpt: a fork. Learning to fuse to­gether clay pieces is a most impor­tant technical skill for building clay objects. A fork looks like a tiny hand; consider that roughening and scoring into the clay where it is to stick to other roughened clay is like creating a series if hands that reach out to each other to hold fast the two joined parts. Structural strength only results when the two halves are sufficiently blended together by force and fork. Bonus feature: most fork handles can be used as a knife to cut into clay. A common household object useful for adding and subtract­ing from clay sculpture; definitely a Favorite Tool.