3 minute read
Feature Gallery: Barbara Tipton
Barbara Tipton
April 6 – July 2, 2013
Opening Reception: 2 – 4 pm, Saturday, April 6, 2013
Most of my sculptural objects center around the idea of the cup and saucer. These works originated as wheel-thrown forms, altered and assembled, but this evolved into drawing on the surface of paper clay slabs and forming them intuitively into three-dimensional shapes. An experiment to create a cup-like shape on the wheel without physically touching the clay resulted in my most recent sculptural work. My intention with these objects is to work rapidly so that the clay retains a “fresh” quality. Postforming is a time to fiddle with details. Glazing these works has become a lengthy process of building up layers, adding imagery or further visual texture. Many of the works retain their visual identity as cup and saucer; others retain those origins only marginally. Whatever the outcome, my aim is not to be too specific, and I’m pleased when a certain amount of ambiguity creeps in.
Over the years I’ve discovered there’s quite a lot of freedom in working around a single theme. With a central image in mind I can press thick slabs by hand, employ marking tools or bisque press molds, or form thick shapes and join them. As the clay changes, I attempt to catch it at the right moment; I’m constantly on the lookout for something that seems to ring true as an expression, a sidelong glance, a dim remembrance.
The Alberta fine craft community is extremely thankful that Barbara Tipton calls Calgary home. Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, Barbara received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics from Memphis College of Art where she studied under Thorne Edwards and Peter Sohngen. Further studies at Ohio State University resulted in a Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics. She stayed in Columbus, building her studio practice, until she made the move to southern Alberta in 1986. Over the years many students have benefited from her instruction at the Alberta College of Art + Design and the University of Calgary.
An expressive and innovative ceramic artist, Barbara has explored the aesthetic as well as technical elements of clay for over three decades. Her work has been shown in exhibitions across Canada as well as internationally. She has received substantial recognition, with multiple inclusions in such publications as 500 Prints on Clay (2013) and 500 Cups by Lark Publishing (2004), Soda, Clay and Fire by Gail Nichols (2006), and The Ceramic Spectrum by Robin Hopper (revised edition 2001). Many public and corporate collections contain her work, including the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Canada Council Art Bank, Glenbow Museum, San Angelo Museum of Art (Texas), Harrison Museum of Art (Utah), among many others. Her work is collected privately across Canada, the United States and England.
