FEBRUARY 27-MARCH 27, 2021 GALLERY 212, SONOMA COMMUNITY CENTER, SONOMA, CA COMMON GROUND: ARTISTS OF NORTHERN 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 , 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 —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 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.

Thank you, Yoshio.

William Ishmael* Invites PK Kelly

PK (Patricia Kelly) and I are part of an art collaborative led by Anthony Maki Gill at his studio in Auburn, California, affectionately known as Building A, or with tongue firmly in cheek as 'The Temple.'

In our years working collaboratively, we have researched clays, glazes, and styles, studied noted ceramicists, and in this pandemic year, attended any number of Zoom workshops 'together.' All this in support of our mutual experimental approach to ceramic arts.

When I saw her first work in the pattern motif, I knew she was a winner! I bought it on the spot, and that piece has gone on to win awards in juried shows. My husband and I have commissioned two additional pieces in this series to round out a triptych for our home.

Unlike my own transition into art and ceramics from a civil engineering/urban planning education and career, PK has a Master’s in Art from California State University, Sacramento. Her experiences have taken her from Illinois to Malaysia and Japan before rounding out her career as the art instructor at Sacramento's prestigious Country Day School, where she established the ceramics program. Post-retirement, she further pursued ceramics, both producing well-designed and beautiful abstract sculptural life-form pieces.

Josie Jurczenia* Invites Lana Wilson

I was introduced to Lana Wilson by our mutual friend, Christa Assad, at Fourth and Clay Gallery in Berkeley, California, where Christa and I were studio mates. It was at one of our wild holiday parties. Lana was an incredible dancer and was ripping up the dance floor and I, fueled by lots of tequila, joined her. I had known of Lana’s wonderfully layered, hand-built pieces for years before I met her. That meeting was the start of a beautiful friendship built on our shared love of life, family, and clay.

Lana Wilson is a hand-builder like I am. She and I also share more than a passing interest in textiles, and their influence on our clay work is evident. She uses abundant textile patterns in her colorful surface decorations. We sometimes use the same method of making paper patterns to create dimensional forms. She darts, gussets, and stitches her pieces as I do. We share the same firing temperature, and I am even beginning to experiment with her favorite material, paper porcelain.

Although Lana has been a well-recognized ceramic artist and educator for many years, she is always trying something new. My BFA degree is in textiles, so my clay education is based on taking workshops from artists I admire. We have attended workshops together, questing for new knowledge. We’ve held private workshops with each other in our respective studios figuring out all sorts of things--from applying stencils to new underglaze applications to adding feet on our pots. I always come away from these magical sessions inspired by Lana’s knowledge and her willingness to share her joy of process.

Although our work is very different, I like to think it dances well together.

Marc Lancet* Invites Maryann Steinert-Foley

It is not so much that I chose to invite Maryann Steinert-Foley to exhibit but rather that her art made it clear that it must be included. Maryann creates abstract figurative sculpture that fills space with integrity, which is my highest praise for sculpture. Her figurative sculpture of humans and horses present simplified yet strongly evocative forms. They celebrate color and exercise an intuition for abstraction that imbues her with a powerful presence found equally in her paintings.

I first began to work with Maryann when she came to Solano College after she had completed her undergraduate studies at UC Davis. She arrived full of ideas and capacities in search of a safe and supportive creative environment where she could develop her art in collaboration with equally dedicated artists. Over the time we worked together, our relationship transformed from student and professor to friends and colleagues. These rare transformations are one of the great rewards of teaching.

Each of us brings our unique life experience and vision to our work. Still, the themes and inspiration for our figurative sculpture share much. Maryann and I each turn to abstract figures to satisfy our human need for essential expression through art. From humanity's earliest beginnings to the present, and from every continent, powerful abstract figurative sculpture continues to emerge. A common thread runs through the goddess figures created 30,000 years ago in prehistoric Europe, Cycladic figures of ancient Greece, Jomon figures from 13,000 B.C. Japan, and the wood sculpture of Africa, through the work of modern sculptors like Moore, Marini, Archipenko, Zadkine, Giacometti, and Brancusi, to the work of the Bay Area figurative artists, Park, Bischoff, Brown, Neri, and DeStaebler, and the work Maryann and I create today. Over the millennia, our species produced figurative sculptures true to human emotion expressed through dynamic abstract composition.

Not from tradition, not from need, nor from compulsion, our creation of emotive abstract human figures is an expression of our humanity, an imperative of our species. Perhaps the conviction that art expression is essential to our nature is what we carry to the studio each time we approach the figure anew. I know that with each sculpture I create, this feeling of belonging, of being on the track of something vital and important grows stronger. With every sculpture, I feel I am closer to that figure I envision, yet I am left with a certainty that more can be achieved. I return to the studio, with evermore vigor and a conviction that what I strive for is close at hand.

There is a dynamic affinity between Maryann's art and my own, an affinity that is echoed in our motivation to create these works of art.

Maryann Steinert-Foley Responds to Marc Lancet*

I met Marc Lancet 10 years ago. He was a ceramics instructor and Head of the Art Department at Solano Community College in Fairfield, CA. I was a recent graduate of the Art Studio Program at the University of California, Davis, on a quest to broaden my understanding of art in general and ceramics in particular. To accomplish my mission, I needed to find someone recognized as a master in the world of who was not outside a reasonable commuting range from my home in Sonoma. Marc Lancet was a perfect fit. We had been introduced to one another a year or so earlier at a CCACA conference in Davis, so I knew Marc to be a warm, welcoming human being. Most important, he is an acknowledged master both of the ceramic arts and the art of teaching. The choice was made even easier based on the work of Marc’s students that was exhibited at CCACA conferences I attended while enrolled at UCD. Work from Marc’s Solano Community College students always stood out. It was consistently visually exciting and technically professional and always ranked among the best work of the conference.

So, my decision was made. As a newly minted graduate of the UC Davis Art Studio program (especially of the venerated ceramics mecca -Temporary Building 9) I was ready to expand my knowledge. Although I enrolled in Marc’s classes enthusiastically, it was only later that I realized how perfect my choice had been. This was the beginning of a relationship--academic and personal--that helped me develop and improve my studio skills to a level that would equip me to pursue a career as a professional artist. The environment Marc creates--with the help of his great teaching team – allowed us to learn and practice techniques and tools critical to the development of our art practices.

As a classroom group, our basic connection was clay. Under Marc’s instruction, we also regularly investigated more conceptual and philosophical aspects of the creative process. Marc, in other words, taught us to think in larger terms. We were encouraged to use collaboration to expand the creative process and to appreciate that by solving problems together, forming human relationships along the way, we were creating social capital. That social capital was a “glue” that could hold communities (or a small group of artists) together. Given the chance, such social capital could have an impact nationally and globally – maybe toward promoting cultural and social equity or saving the planet.

I think of Marc at some point just about every day when I’m in my studio.

Forrest Lesch-Middleton* Invites Arash Shirinbab

Forrest Lesch-Middelton and Arash Shirinbab began their collaborative partnership in 2015. As recipients of a Creative Work Fund grant they worked with the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California (ICCNC) on “To Contain and To Serve” for which they created dishes, vessels, and tiles using traditional ceramic and calligraphy practices. Those pieces highlighted the Islamic value of hospitality, and the project culminated with an installation and celebratory meal at ICCNC. As with works in this show at Sonoma Community Center, much of their work incorporates messages from both ancient Sufi poetry and contemporary sources. Through this collaboration, Shirinbab and Lesch-Middelton have exhibited together many times and received multiple grants to further their exploration and expand their friendship while developing their practices individually and as collaborators.

Collaborative artists Arash Shirinbab and Forrest Lesch-Middelton have been creating artwork in tandem for over five years. Their creative dialogue goes beyond the relationship of these two artists--one an American ceramicist and one an Iranian calligrapher. It embodies a deeper understanding of the existing space between two nations at odds. Our work explores this space and makes room for and pays homage to humanity, hospitality, expression, and respect for thought and empathy. Each artist brings a unique perspective to the table; and together, through conversation and kinship, they arrive at a physical manifestation of compromise and concession.

The work is about contrasts in conversation, age-old ceramic surfaces laden with ethereal calligraphy, poetic verse alongside tweets, politics and the dinner table, education, and intuition. Here the contrast is evident between the static, rigid brick wall – an archival object of literal weight and substance permanently laden with modern tweets – in juxtaposition with the fluid and graceful hand-rendered calligraphic passage of poetry from 13th-century Iranian poets.

Zachary Myers* Invites Eddie Orrego

Creating art in its most basic form is based on identity politics. What we choose to create, the references we pull from, and the audience we are making for, all stem from our sense of identity. Ceramics are often taught and explored in tight-knit communities that center around physical spaces and resources. In one of those communities nestled in the forested hills of Arcata, California, I met and had the opportunity to work with Eddie Orrego. Through the conversations I had working alongside Eddie, I learned much about how personal identity can shape the art we make and inspire conceptual conversations that give insight into personal histories and culture.

Since I last worked with Eddie, the world has changed in a major way. Personal identity became the center of one of the largest political movements of our generation. The artworks we had dreamed up in our small community were now contributing to, and informed by, a larger conversation around racial inequality that was happening at a national level. Both of our works in this show speak to our personal identities; and how those identities fit into conventions of western art.

Eddie's work is an intermediary between classical western figurative sculpture, the traditions of Japanese pottery, and the working-class community of immigrants in which he grew up. From The Middle Ground--his latest body of ceramic sculpture--is a reconciliation of his desire to be represented within the western tradition as a person of color.

My work is informed by my identity as a white cis-gendered queer person. I make works that often subvert and question ideas around inclusivity. The protests of the Summer of 2020, pulled me to find a space as a mediator for those who exist in my community who deny or don't understand racial injustice; and the clear evidence of racial injustice that activated so many to take to the streets to demand reform and accountability.

Ultimately, while creating with ceramics we participate in dialogues that have real effects on how people view the world. If we choose to make a simple thrown mug or a giant pile of rotten apples, that choice has implications in our communities, and that choice reverberates. I am proud to be a part of the ceramics community of Northern California and am excited to introduce Eddie's work alongside my own.

Rick Parsons* Invites Sheri Leigh O'Connor

The power of NCECA! It's about education, exhibitions, community, and making new connections. I met Sheri Leigh O'Connor on a plane. She was flying from Tahoe to Pittsburgh while I was flying from Aspen to Pittsburgh in 2008. Sheri and I made a quick connection talking about ceramics and running summer workshops. At the time, I was working at Anderson Ranch Arts Center; and Sheri was working at Sierra Nevada University.

Once we made it to the conference, we found we had a lot of friends in common. Sheri told me if I'm ever in Tahoe to come and visit her college. A year later, Sheri offered me a job teaching ceramics and sculpture in one of the most amazing places on the planet. Sheri has been a great mentor and friend since the day she hired me. Creating community and a love for clay is at her core. She has run the summer workshops for 22 years at SNU and, in the last few, years started running travel courses to Japan that have a ceramic focus.

Where the fun is, is where you will find Sheri. You will hear her telling jokes and making puns. This sense of humor enters her ceramic sculptures. They are quick-witted and politically charged, acting as social commentary. Sheri echoes this thought stating, "A strong thread throughout my work has been using humor and American/Japanese pop culture, iconic objects, and food, to address serious issues in our culture, such as gun control. In this series, I'm addressing the overuse of cell phones and social media".

Her work has been featured in Ceramics Monthly, Clay Times, Black Pearl and Other Saturated ​ Metallic Glazes, and Ceramic Sculpture: Inspiring Techniques. She was one of NCECA's 50 ​ ​ ​ Women for their 50th-anniversary exhibition.

Lisa Reinertson* Invites Michelle Gregor

Lisa: I first met Michelle and her artwork at the Ceramics Annual of America in Fort Mason, around 2011. As a ceramic artist who had been sculpting the female figure and exploring concepts from a female perspective since the early 1980s, I was immediately drawn to the powerful and sensitive sculptures of women created by Michelle. My original background with the figure came from drawing live models. Working as a sculptor, I understood that the overall form and gesture always comes first, before bringing in the details, as the composition and gesture create the emotional basis expressed in the human form. Michelle’s figures are rooted in understanding these ideas and maintain both mass and abstraction that give her a canvas to work her magic with color. Beneath the surface presence of our work, I believe we share an underlying desire to embody the sculpted female figure with spiritual and psychological depths of expression. There is much we both are saying through this non-verbal language of sculpture.

In 2015 Michelle asked me if I would co-teach a workshop with her at Sierra Nevada College near Lake Tahoe. Not only was it a joy to co-teach a figurative ceramic workshop with Michelle--because of her great enthusiasm as a teacher and artist--but this experience gave us a chance to become friends. Michelle grew up in the Lake Tahoe region so we were able to meet up with her mother and family friends in the evenings and share stories about our lives. We both shared a life-long passion for art, and we both had inspiring mentors. Stephen DeStaebler was a mentor to Michelle at San Francisco State University, and Manuel Neri and were mentors to me at the University of California, Davis. We both became college art professors and know the joy of sharing our passion for art with our students. Michelle’s work brilliantly utilizes the language of the ceramic medium, both in her mastery of sculptural form and in her powerfully expressive painterly use of color.

Michelle: I knew Lisa Reinertson’s artwork well before meeting her. I first saw her sculpture in Davis at one of the early CCACA exhibitions at the Natsoulas Gallery. It was a big cat with a woman sleeping balanced on its back, life-size. The scale and virtuosity made a powerful impression on me as a graduate student working in figurative ceramics. I could barely believe it was technically possible to sculpt and fire ceramic figures like that. Years later, I met Lisa at Fort Mason where we exhibited side by side at the Ceramics Annual of America. I was star-struck and so impressed by her kindness and humility. Describing the human condition through figuration is a pursuit we share. There is a sense of restraint and quietness that links our artwork although our approach is dissimilar. Lisa Reinertson sits within the pantheon of my heroes along with De Staebler, Bob Brady, and .

Kala Stein* Invites Anela Oh

Kala Stein and Anela Oh are newly acquainted through the Sonoma Ceramics residency program, which is designed to be intimate, supportive, and pivotal for the resident artist. A naturally occurring mentorship and collaboration between the director and resident is nurtured as part of the fabric supporting the creative experience.

Kala: When I saw Anela’s portfolio, her polychrome material play made her work immediately stand out from the competitive pool of applicants. I clearly understood her excitement to create impact using color, scale, and unfamiliar material interplay. When we chose Anela for the residency we knew her unique cultural perspective fueled with her optimistic spirit was exactly what we wanted to support at this particular moment in time. Although we are still getting acquainted, I am beginning to recognize some correlations between our work including approaching form through assemblage, Anela with clay, paper, and beads; myself with a base form and building with fragmented decals or modular mold parts. We honor inherent qualities of materials and utilize their qualities to their fullest potential, supporting the concepts of the work we make.

We are inspired and influenced by landscape, place, and the beauty of nature. Our take on these subjects is extremely different and complementary in their juxtaposition. I am inspired by the uninhibited use of color in Anela’s work; and I look forward to what will develop in the next few months, including how we can cultivate inspiration and influence.

Anela: Although I have known Kala for only a short time, her generosity of spirit and love of clay feeds the collaborative nature of the artist residency program at Sonoma Ceramics.

We both derive our work from processing our environments: natural, cultural, and material. However, we approach it from different perspectives and processes. Through fragmentation and then re-consolidation of natural imagery, Kala’s work speaks to my own considerations of what we take from broken systems to create new worlds. I can only imagine how the intensity of care and material play that we both foster in our art practices will grow as we continue to work closely for the duration of my residency and beyond.

Scott Parady* Invites Alberto Lozano

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you to Nancy M. Servis and Kala Stein for coordinating the exhibition and the archives; Anela Oh for expertly installing the exhibition, building the webpage, and video editing; to the NCECA 2022 planning committee members and guest artists who made this exhibition possible; and thank you to the NCECA board and community for the opportunity to show a glimpse of the incredible ceramic art originating from Northern California.

GALLERY 212 SONOMA COMMUNITY CENTER 276 EAST NAPA STREET, SONOMA, CA 95476 WWW.SONOMACOMMUNITYCENTER.ORG 707-938-4626

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