Functional Ceramic Art on View at Guilford Art Center
Biennial of North American (Functional) Clay at Guilford Art Center, May 4-June 17

The Guilford Art Center's Biennial of North American (Functional) Clay exhibit celebrates the field of ceramics and showcases artists who create clay objects with a functional use. The exhibit features diverse creations by 58 artists from across the country, including five award winners and 15 artists who received honorable mentions.

This year's focus on functional work in particular is a departure from previous Clay Biennials held at the Center. This year's Juror, Val Cushing, is an esteemed ceramic artist and Professor Emeritus at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, where he taught for more than 40 years. In his Juror Statement Cushing expounds: "It is sometimes considered to be a severe limitation upon the artist to make objects for occasional or every day useÉbut all artÉhas particular kinds of limitations. The artist chooses his or her medium and its inherent limits." He goes on to praise works in the show as reflecting a "golden age" of ceramics: "a time when there is widespread understanding and expression of ideas and concepts that manifest themselves through great skills and technical comprehension, in imaginative and creative forms."

Biennial Award Winners are: Carl Erickson of Stillwater, Minnesota, for Teapot With Driftwood; Jeffrey Nichols of Morehead Kentucky, for Red/Chartreuse Teapot; Darby Ortolano of Murphysboro, Illinois, for Nesting Bowls I; Elisa DeFeo of Floyd, Virginia, for Cheese Dish; and Megan Bogonovich of Concord, New Hampshire, for Coral Floral Platter Pair.

Carl Erickson's goal with his porcelain pottery is to "create beautifully crafted and enduring pottery that speaks of Minnesota's wilderness." He is continually inspired by the woods, fields and waters of his home state in creating his work, frequently including a motif of blowing leaves, flying birds and naturalistic stamps. Juror Cushing praised Erickson's work as "an example of masterful skills brought to a piece meant for daily use and incorporating imagination and personal expression."

Jeffrey Nichols' vessels explore the relationship between form and surface, beginning with simple wheel-thrown forms that he then works to expose the plastic properties of the clay. His "color-laden" matte surfaces enhance the form of each piece. Red/Chartreuse Teapot inspired Cushing to extol its "radiant use of glaze. It will light up any table almost as though it's on fire, you can feel the heat of the tea inside by the effect of the glazing."

Darby Ortolano is inspired by the forms she observes in her garden, creating wheel-thrown and hand-built nesting bowls and other vessels that resemble natural forms. Her white stoneware vessels are covered with colorful glazes. Most of the pottery she creates is functional and highly decorated. Cushing calls her Nesting Bowls "visually exciting, beautifully glazed with subtle colorationÉbring(ing) the idea of function to another level."

Elisa DiFeo is interested in the idea that functional pottery can contain the essence of the maker, while existing as a useful object. "The way we arrange, decorate, and operate our living spaceÉfascinates me as an object maker, and will be a continual source of knowledge," the artist says. Her vessels and objects, like her Cheese Dish can be quite sculptural, "their lines, shapes and volumes," she says, "Écarrying the viewer/user around the form, as well as inside its surface."

Megan Bogonovich's majolica Platter Pair belies the influence of her background creating art in two dimensions. Cushing calls this vibrantly painted piece "an exceptional example of painting on three dimensional form. It works as painting via composition, color choice and imagination, all fitted to a 'moving' object in space."

Gallery hours for the Biennial of North American (Functional) Clay are Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm and Sunday 12-4pm. The Opening Reception is Friday, May 4, 5-7pm. The event is free and open to the public.

Directions: Exit 58 off I-95. Go north approximately 200 yards. Take first right after blinking Emergency Light. Shop and Gallery are in the gray buildings near the back of the property.

For more information contact the Guilford Art Center at 203-453-5947.