Relative Distances Curated by Ovidio Giberga
Curator’s Statement
A
lthough Galileo proved that we are not at the physical center of the universe, virtually everything we see, touch, or create is measured in terms of its significance relative to ourselves. The four artists in this exhibition are recent arrivals to San Antonio from different parts of the country: Jennifer Ling Datchuk (Ohio), Wesley Harvey (Indiana), Paul Northway (Montana), and Ryan Takaba (Hawaii). Whether having come from 200 or 2,000 miles away, geographic distances become a relative measure when considering other influences on our lives such as culture, aesthetics, or environment. In diverse ways, the works of these artists reveal traces of influence that may challenge or affirm our own relative positions and perspectives. The vessel, figure sculpture, and architecture are fundamental forms of ceramic expression, and traces of their influence are evident in virtually all styles and methodologies. The relationship among these forms is not coincidental, as their conceptual and practical origins derive from scales relative to the human body. For example, the design and shape of volumes – whether they are generous, sensible or intimate – will influence our perceptions relative to established social standards. From a technical perspective, volumetric forms must have the structural integrity Paul Northway Bundle (2009)
and precise contour that will allow them to maintain their shape through construction and the intense stresses placed upon them in the kiln. But skill, design and function in ceramic art are only a means to an end. To engage the viewer, the artist creates something tangible that bridges the distance between the reality we experience and what we do not fully understand or know. Many of Paul Northway’s forms seem familiar as they reference a variety of sources including architecture, common domestic items and children’s toys. Northway, however, subverts any sense of familiarity or suggestion of function by the way he assembles and juxtaposes various elements. Scale changes and color substitutions give his rounded and fluid forms an edgy quality. Northway states, “Emerging as a bridge between childhood discovery and a mature vision, my art creates an environment representing the dual nature of adults and children.” Throughout much of the art world today, functionality is no longer viewed as a liability but an ally, and the history of vessel forms inspires creative and complex investigations. Utilitarian based art and works that allude to notions of utility may serve as a way of leading the viewer from the familiar to other ideas and levels of meaning.
Wesley Harvey, Dinner Plate (2009)
For this exhibition, Wesley Harvey creates a formal place setting for six with dinnerware that is decorated with homoerotic imagery appropriated from illustrator Tom of Finland. This use of kitch and subversive tactics reflects Harvey’s propensity for sarcasm and wit to address cultural and social differences. By presenting functional dinnerware in a gallery setting, Harvey engages the viewer regarding the relationships between art and function. He brings ideas of sexuality and gender to the dinner table where they take on an intimate and personal dynamic. Ryan Takaba employs function to address ideas of sustainability and ritual in daily life. The intimate scale and specialized function of his work impresses upon the viewer the essential role of water as a life giving force. Delivering the viewer from the mundane, the sensuousness of the surfaces and the ergonomic quality of the forms create an irresistible urge to handle them. Takaba’s work references landscape and architecture, perhaps inviting us to consider our attitudes and values regarding our environment.
Ryan Takaba thoughts of home (2009)
Jennifer Ling Datchuck uses domestic and other familiar objects to express the complexities of intrapersonal and familial dynamics. Dualities of decoration or distress, preciousness or neglect, utility or entropy represent the contradictions we sometimes perceive between the reality of our experiences and what we long for them to be. Chicken feet and plums are recurring symbolic elements in her work and an influence of her Chinese heritage. Her work sometimes incorporates elements of unfired clay that lend an added feeling of transience or inaccessibility. Measuring things in absolutes such as miles and years serve to provide fixed points of reference for where we have been and where we are but are not full measures of our experiences. Being a relatively new arrival to San Antonio myself, I am inspired by the vitality of this city’s art community. It is encouraging to have artists from other places coming to live in San Antonio, bringing with them their own unique influences and perspectives. These four artists and their fine works contribute to the growing diversity of our Ceramics and Art communities at large. – Ovidio Giberga
Jennifer Ling Datchuck Split (2009)
Jennifer Ling Datchuk Jennifer Ling Datchuk creates works of assembled textures, forms, and various materials to fashion small sculptures full of information and emotion. She uses culturally significant objects and techniques and charges them with personal meaning, and draws from them a significance that approaches a mythic level. Using her materials to reinterpret the complexities of family, conflict, and beauty, Datchuk creates work that is delicate and beautiful on the surface, but discord and disillusion lurks beneath. Split (2009) presents subtle visual and psychological tension presented through the blending of textures. Layers of glazing and decals adorn a medallion formed out of multiple firings and painstaking attention to detail. A ribbon of thin dishtowels dipped in liquid plaster hangs from a slip cast chicken foot. Cultural signifiers and traditional methods are combined with inventive manipulations to bridge the gap between new and old, familiar and strange, comforting and troublesome. Sweeps and Weeps (2009) resembles a useful box, good for toting necessities, complete with handle and convenient storage compartments. One half of the box is completely full while the other is left noticeably bare, showing the signs of staining, an indication of the past. The relationship of the two sides speaks to excess and deprivation, usefulness and exhaustion, emptiness and completion.
Jennifer Ling Datchuk Sweeps and Weeps (2009)
Wesley Harvey Kiss (2009)
Wesley Harvey Wesley Harvey uses the language of kitsch to explore issues of identity, sexuality, and play. He has developed a visual taxonomy of bunnies, beavers, butterflies, and teapots creates subtle narratives. Familiar images, vibrant colors, and saccharine-sweet motifs subvert our preconceived understanding of cultural and personal history. Harvey playfully transforms slip cast tchotchkes, found objects, and petty decorative flourishes into ceramic sculptures that coax us into questioning our assumptions about the power of visual language. Cuteness becomes a veil that lures us to consider deeper meaning. Harvey’s Kiss (2009) acts as an object that questions the fundamentals of desire. A small found figurine, poised on a stack of slip cast hearts, tilts outward to kiss a slip cast rooster covered in an iridescent glaze, all of which stand on a base decorated with plastic flowers and found glass baubles. This object appears as a loving tribute, an accolade to prettiness, sweetness, and manufactured decoration, but innuendo and the odd narrative work to push meaning into the realm of conceptual concerns.
Paul Northway Paul Northway investigates life experience and knowledge. He seeks to express identity and social roles with a fresh childlike curiosity in sculptures that reinterpret the world in material forms. He experiments with a range of disparate inspirations, from industrial machinery to toys, in a range from loud colors to soft textures. Northway’s sculpture Roll Over Blue (2009) embodies his creative principles of formal combination and playfulness. This work calls to mind playthings, ancient ceremonial artifacts, car parts, or just fantastic irregularly shaped gourds. The hybrid nature of this piece allows for many points of entry and many interpretations. Texture and patterns of vibrant blues inspire contemplation and tactile and visual pleasure.
Paul Northway Roll Over Blue (2009)
Ryan Takaba thoughts of home (2009)
Ryan Takaba Ryan Takaba creates small environments that encourage viewer participation and meditation. His vessels and bud vases are both decorative and functional. For example, Takaba emphasizes the delicacy and ritual of flower arranging as a meditation on personal and collective memory. Takaba’s thoughts of home (2009) brings together the organic and inorganic and incorporates porcelain, steel, magnets, and live flower buds. This blending of materials demonstrates an innovative consideration of traditional ceramic methods. Subtle variations in surface colors and textures of the ceramics contrasts with the regular, smooth, manufactured surface of steel. Interaction with the sculptures, water, and flower buds brings an intimacy to the experience, and the limited lifespan of the flowers insures that the sculpture will always be dynamic. – Chad Dawkins
Satellite Space Gallery Hours Thursday 6pm - 8pm Fri-Sun 12pm - 6pm and by appointment 210-458-4391 Exhibition is free and open to the public. For more information, please email laura.crist@utsa.edu or call 210-458-4391. UTSA Art Gallery Scott A. Sherer, Ph.D, Gallery Director Photography: Courtesy of the Artists Graphic Design: Clay McClure Printed: Lopez Printing, San Antonio, Texas © 2010 UTSA Art Gallery, The University of Texas at San Antonio. All rights reserved. • Copyright of all artworks depicted remains with the artists. UTSA Satellite Space • Department of Art and Art History • 115 Blue Star-San Antonio • Texas 78204 Cover: Wesley Harvey, Dinner Plate (detail), 2009, 10” x 10” inches, commercially produced porcelain, decals