_{By Susan Voss}

_{On a glorious fall evening on October 5th, the New Mexico Potters and Clay Artists (NMPCA) had the opening of their exhibition at the Taos Ceramic Center (TCC) located in Taos, New Mexico (NM). The sky could not have been bluer and the leaves on the cottonwoods were turning a stunning yellow and beginning to collect in golden piles. The TCC hosted the NMPCA for the 2024 Celebration of Clay with sixty-five artists from across NM. The opening was well attended and according to the TCC was one of the best attended openings that TCC has had.} 

^{The art at the exhibit is varied, just as ceramics are varied in shape, color, form and clay. With such a large number of artists participating a broad swath of expressions it is impossible to capture within this short article. Therefore, I am going to focus my review of the show on the various forms of sculpture that were presented. What differentiates sculpture from other ceramic pieces? After reviewing multiple definitions, I have opted for a rather simplistic definition – ceramic sculpture is a piece purely for aesthetic purposes and is not designed as a functional object. That is to say, it is a piece to convey a form or representation outside of a functional use. This can be further subdivided into pieces that are representative of a known object such as a person versus those that are purely geometric representations. There are nine figures that represent the human form, five that represent animal forms and fourteen abstract forms. A short overview of the work in these categories is presented below.} 

^{The Human Figure}

^{Three of the figures modeled the complete body. Kim Alderman’s work “Egyptian Mother is a pit fired sculpture with a computer cord providing an interesting juxtaposition between the ancient and the modern and Diane MacInne’s figure “Resilience” stand’s strong and beautiful with upward expression. Both pieces are shown in Figure 1. Hebe Garcia’s work entitled “Earth” is a contemplative figure whose feet are planted deeply into the earth. Hebe piece received a Merit Award in this year’s exhibit as shown in Figure 2.} 

    

^{Figure 1: Kim Alderman Egyptian Mother and Diane McInnes Resilience. Photo credits: the artists.} 

^{Figure 2: Hebe Garcia Earth on Display at the TCC Photo credit: the artist.} 

^{Sculptures of the human bust varied from representational to abstract. Carla Bassat’s figure “En el camino” is made from mixed media and a multitude of surface treatments whereas Elaine Kidd’s mask, Mask 1, incorporates organic materials into the dark clay and uses the naked raku process to create the dark and dynamic image. Nicole Merkens’ piece “She Who Understands” incorporates contrasting stains to blend into a dynamic representation, whereas Susan Voss’ sculpture “It’s My Day” uses a minimum of surface color to allow the beauty of the clay to shine through. Lois Olcott Price imbeds the figure of a woman into a mountainside claiming the title “Still My Mountain” with glaze, oxide and tinted wax finishes. Whereas Brian Pottorff's sculpture is of a more modern representation of a face with strong features entitled “Cycladic Dreams.” Images of the figures are shown below in Figures 3 and 4.  Photo credits: the artists.} 

        

^{Figure 3: Carla Bassat En el camino, Elaine Kidd Mask 1, and Nicole Merkens She Who Understands.  Photo credits: the artists.} 

      

^{Figure 4: Susan Voss It’s My Day, Lois Olcott Price Still My Mountain, and Brian Pottorff Cycladic Dreams. Photo credits: the artists.} 

^{Animal Sculptures}

^{The five animal sculptures provide a broad range of characters and expressions. Elaine Biery’s work “The Raven’s Gallery” depicts a warm mountain cliff with a curious raven looking down as shown in Figure 5. This is contrasted with Janeen Maas’ “Sing a Song” stoneware piece depicting crows baked into a pie while two watch from the side, a playful piece that received one of the three Merit Awards for the exhibit, and Sheena Cameron’s sculpture “Raven Riding-With Skull” is a translucent raku piece with a skull skillfully embedded in the side. These two sculptures are shown in Figure 6. Kim Louise Glidden's intricate sculpture entitled “Bison Vertebra & Arrowhead” provides a realistic depiction of an ancient vertebra with an arrowhead embedded deeply, suggesting a bygone day. Adam Emery’s work “Birds in the Dragon” is a multicolor expression of a dynamic dragon. Kim and Adam’s work is shown in Figure 7.} 

^{Figure 5: Elaine Biery The Raven’s Gallery at the TCC. Photo credit: the artist.} 

  

^{Figure 6: Janeen Maas Sing a Song and Sheena Cameron Raven Riding with Skull. Photo credits: the artists.} 

   

^{Figure 7: Kim Louise Glidden Bison Vertebra & Arrowhead and Adam Emery Birds in the dragon. Photo credits: the artists.} 

^{Abstract Sculpture}

^{There are a large number of abstract sculptures in the NMPCA Celebration of Clay exhibit this year where the use of form and surface effects bring forth interesting and intriguing sculptures to observe. Beginning with Cate McClain’s piece “Windswept,” a saggar-fired piece with black terra sigillata surface, has an intriguing form that rolls inward. Her piece received the Best of Show Award, and is shown in Figure 8.} 

^{Figure 8: Celebration of Clay 2024 Best of Show Cate McClain Windswept. Photo credit: the artist.} 

^{Some of the more earthy sculptures include Judy Nelson-Moore’s work “Open Aging” --an expressive saggar-fired piece with fiber elements, as shown at the exhibit in Figure 9. Greta Ruiz's piece “Flame Keeper,” a wood-fired sculpture, can be seen in Figure 10. Abby Richardson’s work “Triangle 724A” is pit-fired with organic compounds providing the beautiful and flowing surface pattern, and Debi Smith’s piece “Chaco as We Know It” provides a physical representation of a beloved NM landmark with petroglyph markings. Greta, Abby and Debi’s pieces are shown in Figure 10.} 

^{Figure 9: Judy Nelson-Moore’s work Open Aging. Photo credit: Anna Bush Crews.} 

    

^{Figure 10: Greta Ruiz Flame Keeper, Abby Richardson Triangle 724A and Debi Smith Chaco as We Know It. Photo credits: the artists.}

^{James Marshall’s graceful sculpture “Untitled#98 Graphite Black”, is shown in Figure 11. His elegant design reflects the light emphasizing the long narrow shape.}

^{Figure 11: James Marshall Untitled#98 Graphite Black (Photo credit: the artist).}

^{Two of the more modern pieces include Andrea Pichaida’s “Beautiful Life” whose work has both a beautiful strong geometric shape as well as vibrant and contrasting colors, and Lin Johnson's “Jumble House” - a multipiece wall sculpture that uses interesting shapes and primary colors to represent a sense of mystery and play. These pieces are shown in Figure 12.}

    

^{Figure 12: Andrea Pichaida Beautiful Life and Lin Johnson Jumble House. Photo credits: the artists.} 

^{The Coyote Color in Clay Award was given to Erik Gellert for his piece “Vistige,” a beautiful piece that reflects the light in the surface underglazes, stains and glazes. The blue and greens are reflected in the light as shown in Figure 13.}

^{Figure 13: Coyote Color in Clay Award to Erik Gellert Vistige.} 

^{The last five pieces covered in this article continue to show the beauty and versatility of the ceramic medium and the countless number of choices an artist has to express themselves. Anna Bush Crew’s work “chocolate volcanic” is a raku-fired piece that dramatically rises up with glaze and slip abstractly applied. Jim Romberg’s piece titled “Ascent” is another raku-fired piece whose form and colors capture a sense of rising upward. Both of these pieces are shown in Figure 14.}

 

^{Figure 14: Anna Bush Crew chocolate volcanic and Jim Romberg Ascent. Photo credits: the artists.} 

^{Lindsay Iliff’s work “Baobab Stupa” is both abstract and familiar in its form and expression and Cathy Rapp’s work “Touch of Sky” has a rising geometric shape with touches of brilliant blue reminiscent of the New Mexico sky.  Both of these figures are shown in Figure 15.} 

   

^{Figure 15: Lindsay Iliff Baobab Stupa and Cathy Rapp Touch of Sky. Photo credits: the artists.} 

^{Sara D’Alessandro’s “Rhumba”piece is shown in Figure 16. This large sculpture provides energy and animation in an abstract form.}

^{Figure 16: Sara D’Alessandro’s Rhumba. Photo credit: Anna Bush Crews.}

^Summary

^{The 2024 Celebration of Clay representing 65 different artists is a grand success and is beautifully presented at the Taos Ceramic Center. The TCC gallery provides the perfect display for the broad array of pieces and creates an intriguing venue to spend time with each piece. In this writeup I have presented a short summary on all of the sculpture pieces presented at the exhibit, twenty-eight in all that demonstrate the power of clay to express one’s artist vision. I hope if you have the opportunity, you will visit the TCC gallery at 114 Este Es Road, Taos, NM where you can see firsthand the wide range of beautiful work from ceramic artists across New Mexico. If you do visit, please say hello to Georgia and Jules while you’re there for me! Cheers!}

^{--By Susan Voss}

^{More photos by photographer Anna Bush Crews} 

^{A wide view of the exhibit. Photo credit: Anna Bush Crews}

 

^{Adam Emery and his Birds in the Dragon.  Photo credit: Anna Bush Crews}

^{Above right: Susan Voss It's My Day. Photo credit: Anna Bush Crews}

^{Carla Bassat with her En el camino. Photo credit: Anna Bush Crews}

_{Reviewer bio - Susan Voss focuses on tiles, sculpture and large vessels in her ceramic art, working out of her Raven’s Nest studio.} 

_{Photographer bio - Anna Bush Crews describes herself as a student of the ceramic arts, learning to work with clay in various ways, concentrating on hand-building. "My travels and research have contributed to many bodies of photographic, video and sculptural works."}