Invitational exhibition of wood-fired ceramics
March 20 - April 20, 2024
Curated by John Jessiman, Resident Director Cub Creek Foundation
Featuring Rob Barnard, Randy Edmonson, Dan Finnegan, Chris Gustin, Mitch Iburg, John Jessiman, Jan McKeachie Johnston, Randy Johnston, Lindsay Oesteritter, Zoe Powell, Tim Rowan, Akira Satake, Jeff Shapiro, Hitomi Shibata, Takuro Shibata, Jack Troy, Catherine White.
Wood firing at Cub Creek.
About the Artists
Rob Barnard
I believe the feeling or sense of life of a pot comes from its capacity to point beyond itself to some mysterious inner yearning that is part of the human condition.
Randy Edmonson
Sometimes I make sculpture and sometimes I make pottery. My pots are traditional wheel-thrown shapes that may include such surface treatments as slips, incising and inclusions. Some are glazed while others are not. I hope each surface will be receptive to the flame and ash in my wood-fired kiln.
Dan Finnegan
I enjoy the aesthetic challenges of making pots as well as the physical labor that being a potter and firing with wood entails. It is important to me that my work be finely crafted and made to a very high standard. I love the architectural qualities of clay, the permanence of stoneware, and the sweet magic that occurs when good pots, good food and good people come together!
Chris Gustin
This is what I depend on: the desire in all of us to reach out and touch, and by doing so, to trigger memory that is both felt and connected, memory that quietly waits to come to consciousness. This innate connection is for me the primal language of ceramic form. It has the potential to reflect our universal human story, regardless of politics, culture, or history.
Mitch Iburg
My work is a direct response to the setting in which it is made. By collecting local clay and mineral resources and studying geological expressions inherent to specific regions throughout the state of Minnesota, I seek to create ceramic objects which combine the physiological substance and behavioral characteristics of the landscape to form an expression of its terroir.
John Jessiman
Along with the great historical pottery, the fluid and explosive energy of Joan Mitchell, the De Koonings, Franz Kline, and the powerful and bold imagery of Robert Motherwell have also been a continuous source of inspiration for my work.
Jan McKeachie Johnston
I am passionate about working with clay and firing with wood and have followed this tradition for 45 years. The reasons are very simple. A life that involves connection with earth, fire, passion, community and sharing with like-minded people, is an incredible gift. I am ever grateful for these opportunities.
Randy Johnston
As I work in clay, the reality that is the starting point is the choice to investigate the formal range of the vessel structure in clay, and the belief in the potential that the pieces must entertain, suggest a narrative, and allude to things outside of themselves.
Lindsay Oesterritter
I utilize the wood firing process and reduction cool techniques to continue to highlight form and surface variations, and reference the slow and continuous passage of time. Through wood firing, the form and surface become unique to the singular object.
Zoe Powell
Many of my sculptures represent two forms pulling away from or compressing against each other. They are metaphors for human relationships based on impending separation or forced attachment.
Tim Rowan
My forms arise from the struggle between nature and technology. My work is of the earth and about the earth. It celebrates nature while questioning our detachment from it. It employs simple materials and processes in its critique of technology.
Akira Satake
For me, the act of creation is a collaboration between myself, the clay and the fire. Collaboration means finding what the clay wants to be and bringing out its beauty in the way that the beauty of our surroundings is created through natural forces.
Jeff Shapiro
I respond to the beauty that exists in the imperfections of nature; A torn leaf… a crack in a cement wall… a twisted branch…a shaft of lightning cutting through the night sky, all have the potential to be dimensions of beauty that feed the artistic soul and creative process.
Hitomi Shibata
Drawing inspiration from the rich traditions of Japanese pottery and American ceramics, I harmoniously blend these influences to reflect my personal experience, curiosity and challenge. My journey is a lifelong experiment, merging the essence of different cultures, unique clay stories, and interesting ceramic materials from all over the world.
Takuro Shibata
As an artist, I'm fascinated by the immense and ever-changing nature that surrounds us—an enduring reminder of its uncontainable essence. Embracing a harmonious bond with nature, my path as a Japanese ceramicist naturally gravitates towards encapsulating the essence of local clay, an abundant source of inspiration deeply rooted in its unique characteristics.
Jack Troy
After being stoked around the clock night after day for about 100 hours or more, the kiln takes on an organic presence with a mindless intelligence we seek to decode within the limits of our experience. When we unload a kiln, our first response is always, “We did this,” and only later, “I made this.” Special pieces winnowed from the unloading evoke humility for the cooperative attentiveness of a dozen or more participants.
Catherine White
Seeking a poetic language of material, shape and surface, Catherine White’s ceramics abstractly refer to the landscape we inhabit and the languages we use. As a ceramicist she works within the realm of usability poetically expressed.