Vessel Variations
Ashley Kim, Sunshine Cobb, & Mi Kyoung Kim
September 26 – October 25, 2016
Opening Reception: Tuesday, October 4, 2016, 5:00pm – 7:00pm
Ashley Kim artist lecture: Thursday, October 13, 12:30pm
“San Diego artist Ashley Kim, Sacramento potter Sunshine Cobb, and Korean ceramist Mi Kyoung Kim take divergent approaches to the ceramic container, using a variety of processes from wheel-throwing to hand-building to slip-casting. All three ceramists work with ideas of containment and volume in ways that range from the purely poetic to the straightforwardly functional, but always with an acute visual and formal awareness of the power of integrating sculptural volume with richly tactile surfaces, and always with the vigorous character of work made with the human hand.” -Richard Burkett, guest curator and ceramic professor at San Diego State University.
Paleolithic humans were first to discover that clay, when heated in fire, created a permanent form. These early fetish objects served primarily ceremonial purposes, but eventually, rudimentary vessels for storing food and water were fabricated. Kilns were utilized to create environments of increasingly greater temperatures, leading to the manufacture of harder and less porous ceramics. Experimentation with the application of ash and sand onto a vessel’s surface prior to kiln firing produced glazes that created more unique and attractive, shiny surfaces. Inventive vessel building and glazing techniques, using increasingly abstract forms with more ambiguous functionalities, are concepts which some artists, including the three currently on display at the Hyde Art Gallery, are still investigating today.
Vessel Variations will run from September 26th until October 25th, 2016 at Grossmont College’s Hyde Art Gallery. The Hyde Art Gallery will host an opening reception on October 4th from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM. There will be live music and delicious refreshments. Admission is always free and the public is encouraged to attend.
