CLAY EXHIBITIONS
RUMINATIONS Juried Winners
1st Place
Heather Kaplan, NM
Where There's Smoke 2021
Low fire ceramic
2nd Place
Clay Leonard, TX
Gesture Mug Pair, 2020
Slip-cast porcelain, gold luster
3rd Place
Jaden Estes, PA
Balance 2021
Ceramic, Underglaze, Glaze
RUMINATIONS JUROR STATEMENT: Sanam Emami
I am grateful that I was asked to jury the exhibition for the Silver City Clay Festival again this year. Last year, only a few months after the start of the pandemic and in the midst of protests against police brutality and systematic racism, the pool of applicants for the exhibition was quite small. It is always difficult to draw a direct correlation about cause and effect, but I imagined that many artists and students were pausing and reflecting on the changing world around them, as I was, and asking the age old question "does art matter?”.
So much has changed in the past year. The challenges we face still loom large but, I was very pleased to see that the number of applicants for the exhibition this year had grown and the scope of artwork submitted was broader.
In selecting work for the show this year, I wanted to celebrate the diversity of clay as a material and to select pieces not because they were ‘good’ but because they were pieces that made me pause and ask a question. The works in the exhibition represent a range of processes and techniques, but they also provide an opportunity for us to see and feel our shared humanity - one in which things are on the way to becoming something else but are not yet there, one in which we see ‘flaws’ or ‘imperfections’ and are ok to sit with them rather than pass judgement.
As the show title suggests, it my hope that the show as a whole both reflects the breadth and scope of the field today and offers a space for viewers and the objects themselves to ruminate.
RUMINATIONS
2021 INTERNATIONAL JURIED EXHIBITION
Where: Light Art Space | 209 W Broadway St, Silver City, NM 88061
Opening July 2nd | 5pm - 8pm
Juror: Sanam Emami
In a time of unprecedented global events, contemplation and consideration are needed. Artists observe the world around them and create artwork that communicates individual perspectives and experiences.
LOCAL CLAY
An Exhibition of Local & Regional Clay Artists
Where: Light Art Space | 209 W Broadway St, Silver City, NM 88061
Opening July 2nd | 5pm - 8pm
The story of southwestern New Mexico - past, present, and future - may be told in clay. Humble as dirt, strong as brick, practical as a pocket, and delicate as crystal, it is the most basic element of life in the land of enchantment. It is the object of a human love affair with the earth itself. This exhibition highlights the talented clay artists in our region.
Claude Smith III Retrospective
Where: Diana Ingalls Leyba Studio & Gallery | 315 N Bullard St, Silver City, NM 88061
When: July 8th - 22nd | Wednesday - Saturday 11a - 3p
Exhibition Opening Thursday, July 8th 5p-7p
Claude Smith, Professor Emeritus of the Ceramics Department at Western New Mexico University retired in 2017, leaving a legacy of innovative work and devotion to his craft and the students he taught. A representative body of his ceramic work will be highlighted in this retrospective.
Letha Cress Woolf
A SOLO EXHIBITION
When: July 12th - 18th | Gallery Hours: W-Sat 11:00a - 5p | Sunday 1p-3p
Where: Sterling Gallery | 306 N Bullard St, Silver City, NM 88061
