Jennifer Cunningham

 Jennifer Cunningham

Mixed media, paint on canvas.


Jennifer's work brings life to places abandoned a long time ago. Her work is extremely playful and expressive. 
Her paintings show nature reclaiming what originally belonged to it, grass and trees grow where concrete once lay.  Mechanisms that once preformed for their audience now stand still, seized by rust and merged with the organic.

I really enjoyed looking at Jennifer's work. Paint is something I don't explore myself, but her work is very expressionate .

Artist Statement

This isn't a world to grow up in

An estimated 250,000 children are currently used as child soldiers, 40% of which are girls.

Through the theme of War and the issues that surround the use of child soldiers my aim is to tell a narrative about the comparison between two lives. One of the children growing up within a war, conscripted to fight for reasons they do not know or understand and two, of a child (Me) growing up in what could be described as a warzone. Constantly exposed to crime, drugs and violence.



The walls that protected me as a child now become the canvas on which my narrative can be formed, a story pieced together, brick by brick.

Nan Smith

Nan Smith

Earthenware, Slip cast.

 The figurative likeness of the work is astonishing. 

• The temporal quality of human existence is an
  underlying theme implicit in the choice of clay as a sculptural
  material.
• The sculptures frame time and memory within a vignette; the salient moment conveyed through subtle gesture; the tilt of the head, repose in facial expression or reaching hand.
• The sculptures are intimate and contemplative;
  they picture memory and indicate a sense of its timelessness. 
   
  Sticking with the figure I think that Hubert may be able to gain some information from this work.
   
   
   

McKenzie Smith

McKenzie Smith, Ceramic, Soda/Salt firing.


The quality of the finish is fantastic, through looking at this work it has sparked an interest in the process of salt/soda firing. Hand thrown pottery and colorful glazes have been merged to create a very clean finish.

• The element of chance.
• Natural beauty of clay and fire.
• I am hoping that these elements in combination produce ware that has a warm essence and gives
  pleasure in use.
   
   
   The process of producing ceramics is sometimes left up to chance, we cannot always control it. 
   
  I am not sure who could benefit from looking at this artist, but I think everyone should just to see an example of Soda/Salt firing.

David Smith

David Smith

Ceramics, Wood-Fired in a Kegonsa Anagama.

The finish on the work is spectacular, I am immediately reminded of Claire Curneen and her figurative work. The wood firing really adds a unique finish to the work.

• I am interested in producing pots that embody the natural beauty and quiet restraint.
• tenuous balance between humans and the environment.

• vessels and sculpture serve as canvases for the rich textural qualities.      

The Work has a wonderful finish which reflects the long process that it took to create it.
Looking through this work I think that Danielle and Gillian would be able to take something from this artist.                                  

Jeffrey Sincich

Jeffrey Sincich

Mixed media pieces. Uses Ceramics, latex, steel and paint.

I find the work very striking, the figures almost seem alien.  The vibrant cartoonish finish to the work adds a touch of playfulness. Through a collective of pieces the artists creates a colorful story.

• Each reincarnation of these traditions takes on a new life.

• The role that the hand plays in keeping tradition alive is a common thread
  in relaying this
  information from generation to generation.

•  Smaller than life, quilted, ceramic figures and animals, reclaimed wood structures, found objects and projected images.

I enjoyed looking at this work, I have an interest in the figure so I may use this as reference in future work, I think that Hubert may be able to take something from this due to the use of the figure.

Grace Sheese

Grace Sheese

• "My life in the pottery studio is quiet and measured, unhurried, and dictated by the rhythm of the clay." 

• "feels like a relic of a bygone age – a horse draw carriage on a super highway." 

• "Using handmade pottery in the modern world is both special and ordinary." 

Grace's work has an almost surreal feel to it, her work is extremely playful which leads me to recommend that Emma King would take a look at this artist.

Even in the twenty first centuary where technology is more advanced than it has ever been, we still turn to the past when producing work as ceramic artists.

Ian Shelly

Ian Shelly

• "Perception, Transition, Permanence, & Relationships" 

• "using my work and its various ciphers and tokens to embark on a journey exploring the limits of perception" 

• "upset the balance between what remains and what is cursory." 

I think that Emma King would benifit from looking at this body of work, The artists explores the line between reality and the imagined.
 Emma's work in my opinion also explores the same ideas.

Overall I liked the work this artist produced, The use of mixed media made for some interesting pieces of work, I myself can relate the use of mixed media as I too am using it currently in my body of work.

Andy Shaw

Andy Shaw



Collections of functional ceramics, containing geometric forms within the objects.

•  I examine this format of vacancy and the tenuous balance it requires of the viewer-participant in establishing completion.
• perception of motion.
• I examine this format of vacancy and the tenuous balance

I am not sure who could relate to this work. I personally like the mix between a thrown object and the forms placed on it with almost laser like precision, it makes me not want to use the pieces rather, admire them.

Work is progress

This is a small glimpse into my work.

My idea is the contrast between me as a child and what I faced against that of a child soldier.

The cross I built, used to give a hint of the human form, acts as a barrier between me and the soldier. Just like the walls that protected me as a child, the walls of my house and the walls I built from my Lego.

Obviously there is no connection between us, but as a child everything is bigger. The events that occurred where I grew up could be compared to that of a warzone, Transforming me into a soldier as I battled against everything that happened.

 

 

This is what happens when you fire a glazed brick to 1260c. I decided to see how far I could push the bricks before the became puddles of ooze. I now know that my glaze firing will be at 1050c. This tempreture allows the glaze to settle well with out any running.

Some close ups of the bricks after slip is applied before bisc firing to set the slip. This is the base layer of the piece. Onto this an image is drawn on with a mix of black iron oxide, water and manganese dioxide. finally a layer of clear tramsparent glaze is sprayed on.

Above are images of the final tests I did. These contain a layer of slip, the black Iron writing and a clear glaze covering. Three different glazes were used to see which worked well. From the tests i have conculded that the semi clear transparent is the one I shall use on the rest of the bricks.

Finally this is a mock up of one of the images I will be using on one side of the piece.

Virginia Scotchie

Virginia Scotchie

The rough and the smooth

From looking at the work, there seems like there is a divide between an organic object and a man-made object. Parts of the work are covered in a bronze smooth glaze while the other side is a rough textured glaze.

• Investigation of man-made and natural objects.
• The worn, crusty surfaces on many of the pieces are created to give a sense of how time acts to make and unmake a form.
• beauty and intrigue in the humble, ordinary and familiar objects that surround us.                                                                     

 I think that the finish on the work is beautiful, the contrast between the different finishes adds a unique touch to the work. I am not sure who could relate to this work.



Deb Schwartzkopf

Deb Schwartzkopf
Hand built, Porcelain, thrown, oxidization.

The work has a playful air to it, almost like a tea set you would see in a fairytale/fantasy world

• By imparting my own curiosity of form, surface, and ergonomics into my pots.
• volumes and lines communicate, capture or abstract.
• Lines that are defining and soft, elegant and animated, geometric and sensual, architectural.

I think that from the hand built form I am reminded of Amy's animal pots, this is due to the means of production. I also think that Emma king could also relate to this work as it touches on a playful or fantasy aspect.
 

Susan Schultz

Susan Schultz, Ceramic fossils.

• Human influence on the
  environment.
• The culmination is a still
  life of each city that I visit.
• capturing a frozen moment.

 Clay is dug up from the ground, created over years of materials breaking down, just like fossils. I think this work also symbolizes the creation of the media used to produce these pieces.

Immediately I am reminded of Dominic's work with the whale bones and his Ideas about fossils at the start of the year. Zara's work with the caves also spring to mind.