Vignette: Steven Cheek

"How are we as a society going to leave our mark on the world?" - Steven Cheek

"Killing Fields Bourbon Bottle Set" by Steven Cheek, Porcelain, 10x5x5in, 2016, POR

The allure of ceramics is so often in the holding of well-crafted functional objects; to wrap your hand around a favorite mug, warmed to the touch by the hot liquid contained within. The form and textures of hand made pottery are a visceral, sensual pleasure.

In his work, Steven Cheek anticipates that aspect of the work by populating his exquisite surfaces with unexpected motifs that express unsettling themes.

“My work is designed to challenge the viewer’s ideals and thoughts about what is beautiful,” Cheek explains in his Artist’s Statement, “and to encourage the viewer to contemplate issues that are taking place all around us, but which are often uncomfortable to discuss.”

“I strive to engage the viewer by juxtaposing beauty with the ugliness of the world in which we live. It is my intent to marry the beautiful classical vessel with imagery that subtly confronts the viewer to think about a deeper issue.  These issues include war, the impermanence of life, environmental destruction and man’s inhumanity to man and our response to these things.” 

“It is my goal to raise several questions; how do we mark or mourn the passing of lost ideals?  How are we as a society going to leave our mark on the world? Are we going to leave the world a better place? Will we learn from the mistakes of those that came before us?” 

"Car Bombing" by Steven Cheek, Porcelain, 4x3x3in, 2015, POR

Cheek has taught at the University of Louisville, Bellarmine University, Indiana University Southeast, and the University of Tennessee Chattanooga.

Cheek will be participating in first Southern Crossings Pottery Festival (SXPF), which he is coordinating with Amy Chase and Jason Bige Burnett. SXPF will take place March 2 & 3, 2018 at Copper & Kings in the Butchertown neighborhood of Louisvile. The event will showcase potters in the Ohio River Region, including Lexington, Cincinnati, and more. The festival will also include the Empty Bowls Benefit Dinner @PLAY Louisville on March 3, 2018.

Hometown: Born Hillsboro, OR
Education: BFA in Ceramics from the University of Evansville and an MFA in Ceramics from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
Website: www.stevengcheek.com
Instagram:

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"Oak Leaf Bottle" by Steven Cheek, Porcelain, 8x6x6in, 2016, POR

"Whats In Your Water?" by Steven Cheek, Porcelain, 14x8x8in, 2006, POR

"Killing Fields Mug" by Steven Cheek, Porcelain, 4.5x3.5x4in, 2017, POR

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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Vignette: Didem Mert

"Stacked Bowlin' " by Didem Mert, Mid-range stoneware, 15x9x9in, 2016, between $73-$77 each

Didem Mert lists no less than twenty separate galleries representing her in fifteen states. It is savvy marketing in any time, but especially in a period where selling art has been difficult, which may explain why she is considered one of the hottest potters working in America today. It certainly points to an ambitious creative and prodigious output, which is reinforced by the busy schedule of upcoming exhibits for the first three months of 2018:

• 33rd Alabama Clay Conference, Montgomery, AL.
• (in)Visable, to be determined (Pittsburgh, PA NCECA Conference).
• Companion Gallery Collaborations, Union Project, Pittsburgh, PA. (NCECA)
• Emerging Exhibition, The Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH.
• Lillstreet Gallery Expo at 52nd NCECA, Portland, OR.
• Valentine's Day Show, Clay AKAR, Iowa City, IA.

Additionally, Mert is an Instructor at Baker-Hunt Art and Cultural Center, Covington, KY, and at Queen City Clay, Cincinnati, OH.

“Being the daughter of a woodworker, I was raised in a design-rich environment that has influenced who I am and my current body of ceramic work. Geometry, texture, and the functionality of my work emanates from this artistic environment.  Different textural surfaces are created in my work by using pinched marks juxtaposed between smooth, defined lines and edges. Bright colors paired against a soft earthy color palette create high-contrast focal points in the work. Using simple geometry, I sgraffito* line-work into the pots to heighten the formal elements of design. The simple line-work on the pots showcases food in its presentation.” 

"Bling Sunrise Tipsy Sippin' Cup" (with detail) by Didem Mert, Mid-range stoneware, 3x3x3in, 2016, $67

“My work strives to bring forth a sense of tranquility in its minimalistic design, yet there is a sense of playfulness directed through the color palette and pinched surfaces.” The playfulness is most evident in Mert’s tips sipping cups, which have rounded bottoms that might challenge a user filling them with spirits. An inability to keep the cup upright could be taken as a sign to call it an evening.

Mert will be participating in the first Southern Crossings Pottery Festival (SXPF). SXPF will take place March 2 & 3, 2018 at Copper & Kings in the Butchertown neighborhood of Louisville. The event will showcase potters in the Ohio River Region, including Lexington, Cincinnati, and more. The festival will also include the Empty Bowls Benefit Dinner @PLAY Louisville on March 3, 2018.

* A form of decoration made by scratching through a surface to reveal a lower layer of a contrasting color, typically done in plaster or stucco on walls, or in slip on ceramics before firing.

Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
Education: BFA, Ceramics, Northern Kentucky University 2014; MFA, Ceramics, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania 2017
Website: www.didemmert.com
Instagram: didemmert_pottery
Gallery Representation: Cincinnati Art Underground, Wooden Hill, (Cincinnati, OH).

"Bling Tipsy Sippin' Cup Set" by Didem Mert, Mid-range stoneware, 9x13x6in, 2016, $227

"Pur-Peel Butter Get Some" by Didem Mert, Mid-range stoneware, 7x2.5x3in, 2016, $93

"Pinky Winky Sunrise Oval Bowlin' " by Didem Mert, Mid-range stoneware,9x11x9in, 2016, $93

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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Vignette: Kyle Carpenter

"It's about respecting a long tradition of craftsmen before me and discovering my own voice." - Kyle Carpenter

"Three Storage Jars" by Kyle Carpenter, Stoneware, 15x8in approx, 2017, POR

Kyle Carpenter is a full-time studio potter with over 15 years experience in the ceramic arts.  Building his skills in the tradition of folk and contemporary North Carolina potters, he combines a unique talent for illustration with the making of three-dimensional forms. Utility and beauty go hand in hand in bringing together both literal and abstract imagery, inviting the eye to relate the design and form of the pot. His goal is to create an evolving body of high quality pottery in his studio while, at a broader level, promoting the tradition of fine ceramic arts, particularly that of Western North Carolina.

"Storage Jar" by Kyle Carpenter, Stoneware, 8x8in, 2017, POR

“As a studio potter, I work diligently to make well-crafted wares for everyday people. It's seemingly less about the ‘ritual of the table’ and more about respecting a long tradition of craftsmen before me and discovering my own voice. As a contemporary potter, I often look to past traditions for inspiration. I'm interested in folk pottery of different origins. My native state of North Carolina offers a deep well of talented potters, both folk and contemporary, to look towards for inspiration.”

“Simplicity in form offers a broad surface for me to embellish with lines, patterns, and drawings. Before I was introduced to the ceramic arts, I did a fair amount of illustration before and during art school. The combination of three-dimensional forms and two-dimensional drawings was a natural fusion of both my love drawing and pottery, art and craft. It is my intention to bring together clear and abstract markings to engage the viewer to look closely at how design relates to the form of the pot.”

Carpenter will be participating in the first Southern Crossings Pottery Festival (SXPF). SXPF will take place March 2 & 3, 2018 at Copper & Kings in the Butchertown neighborhood of Louisville. The event will showcase potters in the Ohio River Region, including Lexington, Cincinnati, and more. The festival will also include the Empty Bowls Benefit Dinner @PLAY Louisville on March 3, 2018.

Also in March, Carpenter will be a part of Whorled, a Group Exhibition at the Schaller Gallery in St. Joseph, Minnesota, and later, he will be in the St.Croix Valley Pottery Tour, May 11, 12, 13 in North Branch, Minnesota.

Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Education: BFA Ceramics, UNC-Asheville, Asheville, NC, 2000
Website: carpenterpottery.com
Instagram: @kylecarpenterpottery
Gallery Representation: Schaller Gallery (St. Joseph

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"Oval Bowl" by Kyle Carpenter, Stoneware, 9x8x5in, 2017, POR

"Daisy Cups" by Kyle Carpenter, Stoneware, 4x3in, 2017, POR

"Grass Platter" by Kyle Carpenter, Stoneware, 14x1.5in, 2017, POR

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Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved. 

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Vignette: Jim Gottuso

“Making things (and living life) is essentially a series of decisions, each one contingent on the previous.” - Jim Gottuso

"Etched Porcelain Beer Glass" by Jim Gottuso, grolleg porcelain, 3.75in diameter X 6.75in tall, 2017, $70

After several years of running his own businesses, including computer graphics and animation, fatherhood prompted Jim Gottuso to commit to the studio practice of a functional potter.  Practicality and intellectualism are wedded in how he speaks about his work.

“I am very interested in the complete cycle of creating clay objects,” explains Gottuso. “Working on the wheel has provided a framework, grounded in functionality, which allows creativity to flourish. Functional demands inform aesthetics and vice versa, creating an evolution that hopefully moves forward to better work. Imperfections that occur while aspiring to perfection are exciting and learning to let them be has been a challenge. Not setting out with strict limitations always allows some wiggle room to let something become something else. This makes each object’s creation different and the immense frontier of possibilities provides exhilaration. Wondering about the unknown results in the coming years of trial and error, a period that all potters eventually get under their belts, appeals to a sense of anticipation about the promise of the future.”

“I’ve written statements about my work over the years and as I’ve matured I’ve come to look at what I do in the broader context of what all artists, craftspeople, writers, musicians, etc. do. After attempting to distill this all down to a somewhat simple explanation and thereby jettison the inevitable “artspeak jibberish”, what I’m left with is this:  Making things (and living life) is essentially a series of decisions, each one contingent on the previous. Evidence of those moments of decision (or the concealment of said moments) represents the object’s evolution from idea to its final state. Consequently, the work done on the objects themselves can be viewed as a metaphor for existence. In the microcosm (my work), the calligraphic brushwork includes obvious examples of my decisions represented by the change of direction of each brushstroke. I try to make these quickly so that the results are almost a presentation of many decisions skirting the boundaries of my subconscious.”

"Etched Porcelain Bowl" by Jim Gottuso, grolleg porcelain, 7.25in diameter X 4.5in tall, 2017

"I've come to believe that I've always just been in love with what happens when a brush, pen or pencil makes contact with another surface and using shellac as a resist on dried, unfired clay allows the surface to be etched without losing the immediacy and spontaneity of such brushwork."

Gottuso will be participating in the first Southern Crossings Pottery Festival (SXPF), which will take place March 2 & 3, 2018 at Copper & Kings in the Butchertown neighborhood of Louisville. The event will showcase potters in the Ohio River Region, including Lexington, Cincinnati, and more. The festival will also include the Empty Bowls Benefit Dinner @PLAY Louisville on March 3, 2018.

Hometown: Chadwicks, New York
Education: BFA in Drawing and Ceramics / Murray State University 1982; MFA in Sculpture / Southern Illinois University, Carbondale 1986
Website: gottuso.etsy.com
Instagram: /jimgottuso
Gallery Representation: In Tandem Gallery / Plough Gallery / Kentucky Artisan Center / Terra Incognito / Warm Springs Gallery.

Etched Porcelain Bowl" by Jim Gottuso, grolleg porcelain, 6.25in diameter X 4.75in tall, 2017

"Etched Porcelain Bowl" by Jim Gottuso, grolleg porcelain, 6.5in diameter X 4.5in tall, 2017

"Etched Porcelain Bowl" by Jim Gottuso, grolleg porcelain, 5in diameter X 4.5in tall, 2017

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

Are you interested in being on Artebella? Click here to learn more.