Curatorial Statement
Artist’s Reception: Friday, July 6, 2018 from 5-7 pm MT
Exhibition Posted Online: Monday, July 9, 2018 by 10 am MT
The Red Lodge Clay Center is proud to present an exhibition of our current Long-Term Resident Artists, Material Memory. The residency program at Red Lodge Clay Center is designed to encourage the creative, intellectual and personal growth of emerging and established visual artists. Each Resident brings a unique and vital voice that adds to the richness of the Clay Center. Their work is distinct: slip-cast, figurative, utilitarian, hand-built, or wheel-thrown, but they all challenge their materials, and push their ideas forward as they develop their professional artistic careers through our immersive, year-long residency experience.
Crista Ann Ames is a sculptor working primarily in ceramics, wood, and textiles. Through the layering of mythology, iconography and personal narrative, Crista explores how our own animal nature relates to the ways we establish and sustain personal relationships. Raised on a small hobby farm in Washington State, Crista often draws on her own experiences to explore pastoral life, animal husbandry, women’s craft and fertility.
Allison Cochran grew up in a small suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. Her passion for clay led her to Ohio University. During her time as an undergraduate student, Allison traveled to Germany where she studied ceramics at the Burg Giebeichenstein School of Art and Design. She has been a resident at the International Ceramics Studio in Kecskemet, Hungary and was also part of the first Advanced Student Project Network at the Red Lodge Clay Center.
Kelsey Bowen spent her childhood in the rural California foothills, growing a strong root system of inspiration in animals and nature. She is a recent graduate of the California College of the Arts Ceramics Program. She has participated in various exhibitions with her work, including the California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Arts in Davis, the American Museum of Ceramic Arts in Los Angeles, and her BFA solo exhibition in Oakland, California.
Matt Fiske was born in Carbondale, Illinois and grew up in Southern Indiana. He earned a BFA in Ceramics and Art History from Indiana University after spending significant time in China where he studied the history and technology of Chinese porcelain. He spent two years as a resident artist at the Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach, Florida before receiving his MFA in Ceramics at Utah State University. Matt’s work furthers his studio research on the intersection of ceramics, geology, and material science.