The Montgomery Potters is an arts organization that brings together people interested in ceramics, to increase their skills, to exchange ideas, to stimulate community interest in craft, and to hold periodic exhibits and sales.
NEXT PROGRAM: February 8 at 7pm via Zoom
Naomi Clement: Artist at Work
As a potter, Naomi Clement explores how things fit together and how they do not. In particular, she is interested in points of transition: the space where orange becomes red, the place where glaze meets bare clay, the edge of a handle and the end of the pot. In her process, she continually seeks out and creates opportunities for these moments to occur: leaving a seam visible in a hand-built cup, cutting a soft line in the rim of a bowl, or negotiating the space between white slip and raw clay. In her presentation, Naomi will talk to us about her work and journey in clay and provide a short demonstration.
A Canadian artist and educator, Naomi received her MFA from Louisiana State University, and her B.F.A from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design University. She has participated in residencies, given lectures and workshops, and exhibited her work across Canada and the United States.
MARCH PROGRAM: Shiyuan Xu March 8 at 7pm via Zoom.
Shiyuan Xu is fascinated with shapes, patterns, and structures of microscopic phenomena in the ocean and diverse plant seeds on land. She handbuilds structures with porcelain paper clay and uses unconventional processes to apply glazes on the sculptural pieces. The materials allow her to push the boundaries of fragility and strength, simplicity and complexity, order and chaos. Meticulously, the thin skeletal lines are woven into a harmonious volume. In her presentation, Shiyuan will show slides of her work and glaze process, how she makes paper clay, and demonstrate a hollow structure building technique.
A graduate of the China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, P.R China and Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, Shiyuan is currently Artist in Residence at Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago.