Ani Kasten - Host Potter
A fascination with the materiality of the clay is the foundation for all of my vessels, sculptures and assemblages. I am influenced by natural imagery, and my forms explore the meeting point of natural occurrence and the human hand. I use wheel-throwing and hand-building techniques to explore the breadth and limits of clay, and sometimes include other materials such as rocks I find, metal wire or wood to deepen the conversation with my clay forms.
The interactions between clay bodies–stoneware, porcelain, and locally sourced ‘wild clays’, are what interest me, as metaphors for human interactions and relationships. My work encompasses functional ceramics to sculptural vessels to sculpture, lighting and two dimensional work for the wall. What excites me is exploring every inroad of the ceramic medium to create something new every day. In my process I look for the refined within the rough, the beauty in ugliness–forms imbued with extreme fragility yet exhibiting inner strength, manifesting the contradictions and opposing forces we find in ourselves throughout the human experience.
29815 Unity Ave, Shafer, MN 55074
Showroom open by appointment
Natasha Alphonse, Seattle, WA
Natasha Alphonse is a Seattle based artist, making functional ceramics that are minimal and earthy. She is a First Nations artist, from the Dene tribe and comes from Northern Saskatchewan. Her work pulls from nature and her childhood memories of growing up in a remote and wild landscape. Working to always find visual grounding balance in the forms, she uses atmospheric firing processes to add a rustic and earthy quality to the surfaces.
tasha@alphonsestudio.com
alphonsestudio.com
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Bob Brady, Berkeley, CA
I am both a potter and a sculptor closing in on 60 years of making. In pottery making, I utilize most all facets of the ceramic process as each has its own qualities and rewards. Talking is essential to my health and well being.
Maggie Jaszczak, Shafer, MN
As a great admirer of the Shaker design maxim that ‘beauty rests in utility,’ I make wheel thrown and hand built pots that draw on the quiet, archetypal objects of basic function. Minimal in form and surface, and hovering between the primitive and refined, pieces are built roughly by hand or thrown on the wheel, and then scraped and pared down to achieve their final form. Mostly neutral surfaces emphasize the subtleties of material and process as the primary decorative elements–dragged grog, finger marks, and the layering of white slips and terra sigillata with glazes.
maggie.jaszczak@gmail.com
www.maggiejaszczak.com
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Connee Mayeron, Shafer, MN
After 50 years of working with clay, my appreciation of the visual stories that nature presents is a constant conversation in my work. As an artist, I love the journey of discovery. In the world of ceramics, we are using clay that comes from the earth, and is then formed into a work of art. Food or flowers will most likely have a relationship with functional pots, and I enjoy the idea of that specific relationship. I strive for integrity and spontaneity with each piece, and the clay is the conduit for my unconscious conversation. My relationship with clay is ever changing, and this is what always keeps me excited and engaged as an artist.
connee@mayeroncowles.com
www.mayeroncowles.com
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Jenny Mendes, Chesterland, OH
My ceramic work has always had a life of its own, separate from my desire to control it. If I look back at my ceramics over time, there is a continuous thread that runs through my work, a signature stylistic message from my unconscious to my conscious self. Always learning and relearning how to decipher and translate the special union I experience with this material, I find inspiration from deep connection to self and friends, from my relationships with nature, humans, and animals, and from working with energy both tangible and intangible. My daily practice uses active imagination in conversation with the materiality of clay. I would like my work to offer a sense of being buoyed and comforted by love, hope, curiosity, and the imagination.
jennymendes@hotmail.com
www.jennymendes.com
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Candice Methe, Roswell, NM
The foundation of my work is the presence of the hand. When I coil and pinch the clay, I leave marks as I build the forms, which act as a record of intention. Working in this way makes the process slow and allows me to spend time considering how the anatomy of the vessel comes to life through line, form, and surface. With every piece I strive for subtle, soft, surfaces and the deliberate execution of shapes that move between discreet profiles and dramatic contours. While making, I am more interested in an improvised conversation with these components, rather than a pre-conceived formula. The content of these vessels is embedded in this decision as well as the delicate interplay of formal elements and external influences.
candicemethe@gmail.com
www.candicemethe.com
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Liz Pechacek, Inver Grove Heights, MN
I am interested in a deliberate and methodical exploration of form utilizing various hand building techniques. The archaic process of adding coils, then pinching and hammering to refine the profile allows me to search and respond to the clay as I bring up the walls of the vessel. Working in this way, the objects tend to acquire a sensuous volume stippled by the frenetic energy of so many fingermarks. I like to use very rudimentary homemade tools in the manner of our prehistoric ancestors, finding inspiration in slow, focused labor. Once the piece is dry, I apply washes of color, line and stippling in a playful re-examination of the form through the surface. The beauty of the bare clay is something I celebrate, and I use many different clay bodies in combination with slips, glaze, and metallic elements to this end.
Lilith Rockett, Portland, OR
My interests are in material and form. With porcelain as my main medium, I create objects for use in both home and commercial settings. Tableware, lighting, sculptural vases, all minimal in form and surface, create landscapes, light and shadow, weight and balance, subtle variations in curves and edges. I began working with and fell in love with porcelain because of all of its material qualities: translucency, fluidity, density and luminosity. My work is often unglazed, allowing the porcelain to express itself as well as revealing the marks of my hands and tools. Both the quiet and organic nature of the unglazed porcelain please me as they attract attention in small and surprising ways. These small details matter to me, the tiny anomalies that give a piece its own distinct character.
Narrative becomes embedded in the final pieces, however subtle. In recent years I have expanded my practice to include atmospheric firings, both with wood and wood/soda. I was drawn in by the potential of working in community, in a more unpredictable environment, thus creating even more narrative interest in the pieces by connecting it more closely to natural processes. My practice is ever growing and changing, and my most recent experimentation is with wild materials. I am interested in how I can deepen this relationship between form and material. These narratives will not always be obvious, but they will hopefully inspire questions about our natural environment and some wonder and respect for the earth we inhabit. It seems that as technology advances toward more disconnection from the physical, I head in the opposite direction. I value attention, slowness and presence and hope my work can inspire that in others.
lilithrockett@gmail.com
www.lilithrockett.com
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Sandy Simon, Berkeley, CA
For as long as I have been making pots and viewing them critically, I realized that one day I may like a pot a lot, the next day, the same pot falls short. But as I continue to make pots I discover the best that something can be. Over time I have gathered the momentum to trust my judgment. Yet I know things change, views change. A matrix built on tradition is a solid base upon which to express my creativity. I have fun and I flourish in the making!
sandy@traxgallery.com
www.traxgallery.com
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