Three New Mexico artists will be Celebration of Clay jurors this year, two from Silver City, and one from Albuquerque. Claude W. Smith III is professor emeritus for ceramic arts at Western New Mexico University. Cate McClain, Albuquerque clay artist, won last year's Best of Show, and accepted the juror role that comes with that award. Karen Hymer is a photographer and the owner of The Light Art Space.
We are just one month away from our annual member show, this year occurring at The Light Art Space in Silver City, NM. Celebration of Clay 2025: Of Mind and Matter will open Friday evening, April 4th, from 5 to 7 pm. And to crown the evening, the jurors will announce the six awards. We thank them heartily in advance for sharing their time to collaborate on awards for the 47 pieces in our show this year.
Read on to find out who these jurors are.
Karen Hymer
Photo submitted by the artist.
Karen Hymer was born in Tucson, Arizona. She earned her BFA from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Tufts University, Medford and her MA and MFA in Fine Art Photography from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Karen actively exhibits her work both nationally and internationally. Recent solo exhibitions include SE Center for Photography, Navigating the Internal, Greenville, South Carolina (2023); Light Art Space, Navigating the Internal, Silver City, New Mexico (2022); The Photographer’s Eye: A Creative Collective, Age & Seduction, Escondido, California (2022); and Gallery 925, Solitude and Age & Seduction, Las Cruces, New Mexico (2021).
Her work is in several public collections, including the Center for Creative Photography and the Polaroid International Collection. Dark Spring Press released the first book of her work in April 2018. Karen’s work is featured in numerous photography books including The Experimental Darkroom, Christina Z. Anderson, Jill Enfield’s Guide to Photographic Alternative Processes, Jill Enfield, and Polymer Photogravure: A Step by Step Manual, Clay Harmon.
Karen’s photography has received the following awards: LightBox Gallery, Jurors Honorable Mention Award, Melanie Walker, Serendipitous Eye, 2021, Julia Margaret Cameron 12th Annual Awards, First place, 2 categories; Honorable mention, 2 categories; 2018 Denis Roussel Award, Photographer of Merit, 2018, Southwest Print Fiesta, Best of Show, Artist Proof, 2017
LightBox Gallery, Jurors Honorable Mention Award, Kim Weston, The Photographic Nude, 2017 Rfotofolio, Choice Award, 2016, Alex Ferrone Gallery, Grand Prize residency with Dan Welden, 2016.
Karen’s experience and technical interests are wide-ranging. Although “trained” as a photographer and educator, her approach to image making explores the blending of photosensitive materials, digital media, and printmaking. She is fascinated with how the passage of time affects the human body and other natural elements in the world. In addition to working as a fine art photographer, Karen taught photography for over 25 years at Pima Community College, Tucson.
In the summer of 2018 Karen relocated to Silver City, New Mexico to open and operate Light Art Space in the historic downtown district. The space features galleries, wet darkrooms, a sculpture garden, and a printmaking/teaching studio. Karen teaches workshops and private sessions in Photopolymer Gravure and other alternative photographic processes at Light Art Space. She lives on 28 acres of pinon-juniper forest with her standard poodle, Nigel, in an off the grid solar adobe home.
The Light Art space has hosted the juried group show for Silver City Clay Festival since 2018, and is honored to present Of Mind & Matter in April 2025. New Mexico has a rich history of clay art, and we are excited to welcome clay work from around the state to our borderland town. Through collaboration and artistic interaction, we strive to support clay artists by presenting their work to the general public in a professional, welcoming gallery setting.
Karenhymer.com www.lightartspace.com
Cate McClain
Photo submitted by the artist.
My first experience with clay was through my high school’s ceramics program and from the beginning I was attracted to the movement of the clay. After a long hiatus from clay while pursuing a career in medicine and while raising children, I returned to clay, slowly, as I transitioned into retirement. I realized I still loved having my hands in clay discovering what shapes and forms emerge. I am frequently surprised at the results.
Currently, my work with clay has been inspired by shapes, forms, textures and colors I experience hiking mountain trails, wandering through the Bosque and exploring the desert in New Mexico and when traveling elsewhere. My hand-built pieces are created in my home studio in Los Ranchos, NM using a variety of different techniques, stains and glazes.
Claude W. Smith III
Photo submitted by the artist.
Clay is my passion and throwing, my form of meditation. I love making pots. Having grown up in the agrarian Midwest, I love the hard work and physicality that clay provides. Whether functional, one-of-a-kind or sculptural, the creative act of making pots elevates the spirit of the maker to be enjoyed by the user.
I am a traditional potter. The vessel form began serving a purpose in the kitchen or on the table. Functional vessels are designed and crafted for specific purposes. The handmade object lifts the mundane act of eating three meals a day to a higher level. The maker’s personalities, friendships, and acquaintances are remembered and experiences reflected in/with our use of these vessels.
My Creation Series is a personal statement. By the grace of God seeing me through a series of medical episodes, I have been changed in the way I view life and my saggar-fired work. I compose on the platter or around the vessel surface by arranging organic materials which burn out leaving an ash residue on the vessel’s surface, much like pit firing. Once the temperature rises beyond Cone 8 (2257), the ash begins to flux different localized areas dissipating about the kiln. I like to think of this part of process as the kiln breathing on the pots. Interior kiln atmospheric conditions generate a variety of textures and colors. The end result is a total collaboration between the potter and the kiln creating gratifying and surprising results. The process is an educated gamble based on experience whereby the potter either wins or loses. Taking risks through experimentation is worth the gamble. More experimentation yields more control and success.
https://www.claudewsmithiii.com
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Celebration of Clay 2025: Of Mind and Matter runs from April 4-27 at The Light Art Space.
Shipping address for pieces:
2340 Highway 180 E #203, Silver City, NM 88061.
