Scuplture

BODIES OF….JURIED EXHIBITION OF CERAMIC ARTS

Bodies

I am very pleased to announce that Juror Sigrid Zahner has invited my ceramic sculpture MEMORIES OF FORGOTTEN KINGS into “Bodies of…Juried Exhibition of Ceramic Arts” a nationally juried show at the Crooked Tree Arts Center in Traverse City, MI. The show will open with a reception from 2 to 4 pm on Saturday, April 27, 2019 and run until Saturday, July 20, 2019. I am particularly pleased to be in this show because I recently had two of my Joomchi pieces in a nationally juried Papercraft show at the Crooked Tree Arts Center. Being able to exhibit works at the same location in two different mediums is something of which I am very proud.

Chrystalis

(C) JOHN FANSMITH 2017

CHRYSTALIS, hand built with extruded elements from stoneware and raku fired, gets its title from the combination of two words: chrysalis and crystal. Normally used in reference to one of the life stages of a butterfly, the definition of chrysalis includes “anything in a formative or undeveloped state” a concept represented here by the dark, rough textured, unglazed and amorphous base portion of CHRYSTALIS. In contrast, the top portion, the crystals, is highly formed, smooth, geometrically shaped, glazed and glossy. CHRYSTALIS is all about combining these two disparate concepts in a single image (and then successfully firing it). 7 ½ “ x  10” x 8 ½”

 

 

EDEN’S END

(C) JOHN FANSMITH 2017

EDEN’S END, drawing on the Biblical imagery of the Book of Genesis, while appearing to be hammered metal, in fact, consists of four pieces of hand built and raku fired stoneware secured to a piece of split and hand sanded cherry, by wooden dowels and epoxy sculpt. The legs are of various lengths to accommodate the unevenness of the base. 7 ½”H x 19”W x 7”D.

TROPHY: THE LAST RED-CRESTED WATCHAMACALLIT

(C) JOHN FANSMITH 2017

I’ve never really understood the “sport” of trophy hunting, particularly when the “trophy” is not something capable of hunting you back. For food or fur, okay, but just for a head to hang on a wall? Having said that, TROPHY: THE LAST RED-CRESTED WATCHAMACALLIT represents my first, and probably last, venture into the art of trophy gathering of endangered species. TROPHY: THE LAST RED-CRESTED WATCHAMACALLIT is a mosaic/mixed media wall hanging composed of glass, hand built paper clay, marbles and MDF. 12”H x 7 ½”W x 10”D

Virgin Sacrifice #1

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Virgin Sacrifice #1 is part of my exploration of using stained glass and paper clay in mixed media sculptural pieces. The skulls in this prototype piece are commercially available molded plastic, but I hope to master the 3-D printer well enough to create custom designed pieces. Virgin Sacrifice #1 takes the Floxnia format to a more complex form and perhaps into a different dimension. 10″ x 10″ x 10″