Clay + Fiber

Clay + Fiber is a group exhibition that explores work that combines these two seemingly disparate media. Each artist represented in the exhibition use each material in vastly different ways.

Stephanie Lanter received her BA from Xavier University and her MFA from Ohio University, Athens, OH in 2002. Since that time, she has completed Residencies at the Archie Bray Foundation, Anderson Ranch, Mendocino Art Center and the Red Lodge Clay Center. Also a writer, her words have appeared in journals such as Kerameiki Techni and Ceramics: Art and Perception. In speaking about her work she states, “My sculptural combinations of clay, fiber, and found objects attempt to represent the graceful and humorous aspects of neurotic behavior, both within the self and in relationships.”

Julie Tesser received her BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art and has exhibited extensively since that time. Historically, Tesser’s work is large in scale but most recently has become quite intimate. Her two part pieces, one articulated in clay and the other in fiber celebrate both material and craft (all from her Embroidery Tile Series). Stitched two- dimensional portraits in fiber, sit next to their three-dimensional inspirations. Honestly and simply interpreted her work, "is based on perceived essence rather than replication. The goal is to capture a sense of the tactile qualities, letting them flourish and evolve as I explore and merge the various influences, creating pieces that are meant to serve as decorative, interior and architectural design elements."

Janice Jakielski received her BFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 2000 and her MFA from the University of Colorado in Boulder in 2008. On exhibit will be mixed media objects, which Janice refers to as "body objects" from a series of work entitled, Addressing, Dressing and Redressing the Body; Objects for Oral, Aural and Optical Exploration. She writes, "I make objects to transform the world and how we interact with the world. I am interested in creating new ways of seeing, hearing and participating with the spaces that we inhabit. Fabricating for the body, I use familiar forms and particular craftsmanship in order to lend the pieces authority as functional objects."

Diem Chau is a native of Vietnam who emigrated with her family as refugees in 1986. Chau is a BFA graduate from Cornish College of the Arts and has received an Artist Trust GAP Grant and a PONCHO Artist-in-Residence Award. Chau combines common mediums and common means to create delicate vignettes of fleeting memory, gesture and form, resulting in works that combine egalitarian sensibility and minimalist restraint. Her work touches on the value of storytelling and myths and their ability to connect us to each other through cultural and humanistic similarities. Chau's current work drifts into new territory by exploring the periphery of the narrative, moments forgotten and faded, or too brief to retain. Chau will be exhibiting a series of embroidered plates.