This spring, Baltimore Clayworks is celebrating our 40thAnniversary and a renewal of the season inspired by the blossoms and beasts of a refreshed landscape with a multitude of shows under the umbrella of Flora and Fauna. While our studios and galleries are currently closed due to the pandemic, you can check out the exhibitions below, via video and photo galleries, and in our online shop. If you are interested in more information about any of the pieces for sale, please send an email to us at info@baltimoreclayworks.org.
We have divided up our Main Gallery into four pockets of focused themes to interpret the scope of the show:
Botany and Desire: Sculptural works influenced by plants and flowers. There are abstract riffs on plants and more direct interpretations. Large, imposing works will share the room with more delicate and demure blossoms.
Joy Contained: Vases, flower bricks, and other containers for nature’s exuberant expressions. What better way to display nature’s artistry than in a hand-made vessel created from the Earth’s best material?
Animalia: Animal sculptures. Fluffy or fierce, animals inspire us with their personalities, gestures, and energy.
The Five Kingdoms: Functional wares with animal or botanical motifs. The Five Kingdoms are the scientific nomenclature of single/multi cell organisms: fungi, bacteria, animals and plants.
Featured artists include:
Kurt Anderson, Lorna Awalt, Kristin Benyo, Ashley Bevington, Shelsea Dodd, Krista Grecco, Martha Grover, Dani Hawk, Leslie Hinton, Lynne Hobacia, Bryan Hopkins, Shawn Ireland, Lisa Joerling, Jessica Knapp, Andrea Marquis, Brooke Noble, Adam Redd, Frank Saliani, Leigh Taylor Mickelson, Sue Tirrell, and Robin Whiteman.
Shop the show by clicking here!
The Solo Gallery hosts Axis and Intersection, featuring elaborate and intricate clay constructions by Eliza Au. This exhibition is a contemporary exploration historical architectural ornamentation translated with Computer Assisted Design (CAD). Au creates ceramic latticework tiles or structures that are then layered, stacked or slotted together to create new space or design. Patterns shift as you look through or walk around the work.
The title refers to physical and metaphorical axis and intersection. CAD programs use x, y, and z axis points to draw the design and coordinate location, and through these combinations create the layers and patterns of the artwork. One can also imagine how our personal axis and our interactions with others become new vectors and relationships. Au works to understand the unknown via the abstraction and reinterpretation of architectural places.
Baltimore Clayworks is excited to partner with Ladew Gardens to host Laura Amussen in our Project Space Gallery. Amussen is the Artist-in-Residence at Ladew and is presenting her mixed media work in a solo exhibition entitled Nurture.
With a background in medicine, Amussen explores the connection between nature and healing. Her innovative use of natural materials result in an ephemeral and emotionally dense visual landscapes that are astonishingly beautiful. The act of creating her art becomes a meditation; the process of collecting and arranging seeds, leaves and moss in her compositions is therapeutic. Amussen’s art is a vulnerable and potent collaboration with her environment.
On display in our Community Arts Gallery, The Potter’s Guild of Baltimore: 65 Years of Clay showcases a subset of 10 members of the Potter’s Guild of Baltimore, which comprises of over 50 members. The Potter’s Guild was founded in 1955 and has been a haven for potters and appreciators of clay ever since. Today, the Guild harbors a diverse community of ceramics artists of all ages and backgrounds, reflected in the rich breadth of work seen there. Despite a difficult period after a devastating flood in 2014, the Guild prevailed and was able to rebuild and flourish into a vibrant community celebrating its 65th anniversary in 2020.
Participating artists include: Anna Crooks, Gillian Foo, Wei Hann, Ann Hobart, Vicki McComas, Nicole Miles, Krystal Osman, Vianney Paul, Toby Rivkin, and Whitney Simpkins.
The Potters Guild of Baltimore is located in the Meadow Mill in Woodberry, where more member work can be found in the gallery. The Guild also offers wheel throwing and hand building classes for all levels.
