COMMON GROUND: ARTISTS of NORTHERN CALIFORNIA the Virtual NCECA Conference: Rivers, Reflections, Reinventions March 17 - 21, 2021
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FEBRUARY 27-MARCH 27, 2021 GALLERY 212, SONOMA COMMUNITY CENTER, SONOMA, CA COMMON GROUND: ARTISTS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA The Virtual NCECA Conference: Rivers, Reflections, Reinventions March 17 - 21, 2021 Many artists who use clay as their primary medium live in Northern California. Due to the numerous colleges, universities, residencies, and art driven communities in the region, a strong clay community of depth and breadth exists where teachers, mentors and colleagues have influenced many students and each other sparking innovation, dynamism and challenge. This generational legacy within creative communities forsters a spectrum of artistic voices that vary artistically while retaining relational cohesiveness. Several members of the 2022 National Conference for the Education of Ceramic Arts planning committee for Sacramento invited one artist to represent the quality and variety of ceramic work present in Northern California. To view a video tour of the exhibition, click HERE. Artwork in the catalogue text is shown in order of the names listed. The * indicates the committee member in each pairing of participating artists. Ashwini Bhat* invites Kari Marboe In my practice, I work at the intersection of sculpture, ceramics, installation, and performance. Quite often I seek collaborations with poets, writers, and other visual artists as a model for social engagement. In the very first exhibition I saw curated by Kari Marboe—which responded to the works of Daniel Rhodes—I was drawn to her way of thinking through history. We also discovered our mutual interest in using words as material in our work. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why our friendship grew even when social distancing was making it hard for people to connect during the pandemic. We are currently working on a collaborative project for 2022, and I’m thrilled that Kari said yes to be my plus-one to the Common Ground exhibition. -Ashwini Bhat Mary Catherine Bassett* Invites Derik Van Beers I moved out to the Bay Area with my husband in 2013 after finishing graduate school in New York. We didn't know many people out here but were eager for a change after living in Rochester winters for three years. Fortunately, we had one family member who lived in Oakland who we connected with when we arrived. It was through this family member that I met Derik Van Beers. At the time, Derik was running a studio and gallery called Roscoe Ceramic Gallery in Oakland. He had been making artwork and exhibiting other artists in his space for almost a decade when we met. Derik was so welcoming, funny, and kind. It felt good to find someone like him as part of my community in a still unfamiliar place. Over the years, we attended many openings at Roscoe. It was always an event with Oakland Art Murmur and First Fridays, plus Derik always had good drinks and snacks. You would often find a great selection of tequila, burritos, or a cold refreshing LaCroix. The best part of Derik's art openings was the amazing community you would always see there. I have met some of my closest ceramic friends through Derik. I come to the clay world through glass. I have a Master's in glass sculpture but have always incorporated clay and ceramic into my work. In 2016 Derik offered me a solo exhibition in his gallery. This was quite an opportunity for me, being relatively new to the area, and not being a "ceramic" artist. It was in preparation for this exhibition that I found my current body of work. I had never had an opportunity to work with clay in such a focused way. Following my solo exhibition, Derik invited me to exhibit at Roscoe Ceramic Gallery in two-person and group exhibitions. In 2020, Derik decided it was time to retire and focus on his studio practice and enjoying life in Palm Springs. One of the toughest parts of his decision was leaving Roscoe. Instead of giving up all that he had built over the years regarding community and partnerships, Derik reached out to me and my husband to see if we would be interested in taking over the gallery space. Without hesitation, we said yes. About five months later, amidst COVID, we opened Applied Contemporary Craft Gallery with support from the community and immense gratitude for the opportunity. Derik has been a mentor in art, life, and work. His organizational approach to his studio and business has been an inspiration, though I don't think I'll ever catalog my collections by color (wink wink). His selflessness, diligence, perseverance, and positivity through health issues and life's curveballs are an inspiration. I am glad to call Derik a friend, mentor, and colleague. Thank you, Derik! Ianna Frisby* Invites Myung Ahn Since 2005, I have been teaching in the ceramics department at Sierra College in Rocklin, California. It is a small city about a half-hour outside of Sacramento in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Our student population ranges from 15 year olds to octogenarians. Most who attend ceramics enjoy the classes and move on, but there are one or two shining stars in every class who thrive and grow when they find their way with clay. Myung Ahn was one of those students. Since meeting him in class several years ago, he has continued on his own journey. He may have another version of this story, but I recall pulling out some sodium silicate and demonstrating its crackling effects on pot surfaces. I believe those cracks and fissures resonated with him because his work started to shift into the language of geology, time, and spirituality that to this day is still present in his work. I witnessed his growth and development when he moved a few years ago to Arcata, California, attending my alma mater, Humboldt State University. It was then we exchanged a shared appreciation of the area and the beloved ceramics program at HSU. Today, Myung is at Montana State University getting his Master’s in ceramics. I look forward to watching what he does. Anthony Maki Gill* Invites Larry Ortiz Larry 'Luis' Ortiz is a friend, mentor, and collaborator of nearly 30 years. We first met at the Carnegie Library Building in Auburn, California. I was a Sierra Community College art student installing a sculpture in the former library turned art center. Larry was the executive director and gallery coordinator for our county-wide arts council. Larry recognized and helped cultivate my early community service and my art and clay interests. Larry was always gracious with his time and studio resources. He taught me how to throw pots and provided studio access where I could grow and fail as an artist. His mentorship impacted my development as an educator and human. We collaborated together on many successful community arts initiatives over the years; including being recognized as ' businesspersons of the year' by our local rotary club for, "our contributions to the economic ecology of our downtown," and for our work with arts and business. Together we have helped our conservative region better understand and value the role of the arts. I am grateful for the many lessons, collaborative acts of creation, and the common ground we have shared over the past 3 decades. Ray Gonzales* Invites Deborah Pittman Simply put, Deborah is my sister from another mister. We became fast friends and now consider each other family. Here's how it started: More than a few years ago this quiet, exceedingly talented, and driven woman enrolled in my Sierra College class. I knew I was in the midst of someone special when I was teaching how to make clay instruments. I was using photocopied pages of a friend's book as a reference. After demonstrating how to make a whistle I tested it and it worked fine. Then Deborah tried it, and the sound that came out of the SAME whistle was phenomenal. The mellifluous sound flowed and floated around the room. I couldn't believe it was the same whistle I just made. It was a WOW moment that continued the more I got to know her. Not incidentally, a few months later, Deborah gifted me with a copy of the book signed by the author. She had traveled to take a workshop from this artist to learn even more about making clay instruments. Sometimes in teaching, it's relatively easy to share techniques with students. It can be much harder to teach students how to include their own voice, their own narrative into their work. Not so with Deborah. She came fully loaded with a lifetime of experiences and didn't miss a beat in incorporating them into her work. She is impressive. This fearless, master musician, professor, and storyteller took the difficult jump of diving into a different medium. Her strong work is a testament to her success. Ray Gonzales* Invites Yoshio Taylor I’ve known Yoshio Taylor for 45 years! Hard to believe it’s been that long. I was an incoming 3rd-year student at California State University, Sacramento working on my Bachelor’s Degree in Art, and Yoshio was there working on his Master’s Degree. We were both studying under Maestra, Ruth Rippon. Although I was also taking classes with Peter Vandenberge, Steve Kaltenbach, and Gerald Walburg, I spent every open evening and weekend I could in the clay room on campus. That’s where Yoshio was as well--developing his strong style that continues to evolve today. The dynamics in such a driven, positive, and sharing atmosphere led to a generous sharing of ideas and techniques for all present. For me, that studio time was a master class in how to be a strong artist as well as an impactful professor.