Solarium

Date

2021-05

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Abstract

The original purpose of a ‘Solarium’ (or sunroom) is to gather as much light as possible, allowing for an outdoor feel within an interior space. The exhibition revolves around the radiant contrasts of light and shadow at dawn and dusk, when the sun is low in the sky. There is a desire to capture and pay homage to the visual reverberations and transitions in lines and shapes. The luminous morning light reveals shapes and forms across the landscape interacting in overlapping layers. The colors are built into the structure of the environment. As a rock climber and clay worker I build relationships of material qualities in the vessels, structures, forms, and rock climbing. Tension, balance, and compression mirror mental and physical strain reflected in the body of the climber or in the material qualities present in the vessels, structures and relationships I construct. There is a visual and physical weight of the different states of clay, raw to high fired and everywhere in between and I pay attention and use all with awareness. These concepts are all connected through a form of ideological material inquisition and pursuit of ephemerality within the fading life of wet clay. Within this, I’m looking for compositions to explore volume and implied volume to construct a kinesthetic visual experience. This concept is harkening back to a physical response to the continuum between clay and ceramic, climber and rock.

Description

Thesis completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Fine Arts degree in the School of Art and Design at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Alfred, NY.

Keywords

MFA thesis, Ceramic Art, Light, Alfred Shale, Local Clay

Citation

DOI