New Stacking Gear Piece

Another piece I worked on during my first week of throwing was a tall stacking piece similar to ones I made for my sabbatical and the first SRAM project. I've been fascinated with the twisting, tall form divided by gears. 

gear stack forms from sabbatical 2013/2014

I did a shorter, wider, and straighter version of this divided form for my first SRAM project. On that one I was more focused on added multiple bike parts. For the later pieces I was working almost directly from sketches. 

SRAM Gears (top section) from 2012

I started with this form this summer because the structure is fairly simple and I could throw the parts without a lot of planning. I wanted to get started building right away. Sometimes building without much of a plan allows me to think through some ideas, concretely. I suppose it is similar to an automatic writing exercise. The goal is to get started.

sculpture in progress with large gear in place

Speaking of writing, as I have been writing about my work this summer, for various applications, it has occurred to me that with these vertical pieces, I have slightly lost sight of my intent in incorporating the bike parts. The last sabbatical pieces I built ended up being about the aesthetics of including imagery and material recycled from bicycles. What these pieces did not do was use the bicycle parts as supports in the way some of the other pieces did.

 

these five forms all use the supports to literally support some part of the ceramic form

Two of the first SRAM pieces use metal rods from the bikes as literal supports for the whole form or to apparently support a section of the form. The pitcher plant forms from this year and the orange flower piece with the bike pedal parts both use the bike parts to lift up flower-like sections from a separate base.

sculpture in progress with large gear in place

This summer's stacking piece is more complex that the earlier tall pieces in that I added bulbs back onto the sides and also added a second "stem" coming from the base. While I was adding the bulbs, I made a mistake and attached one too high on the form. I decided to leave it and alter the bulb form to work around the gear. 

cut pod that overlaps the large gear

The bulb has a cutout section at the top on one side that will be attached after the entire form is glazed, fired and epoxied together. I haven't decided if I will camouflage the seam or leave it visible, kintsugi style.

gear in place on the wet base (notice the pod looks smooth across the top of the gear)

Of course I planned for the fit of the gears before and after firing and for making the strongest attachments between ceramic forms. The clay pieces will shrink but should still fit. Though the photo makes it look like the gear is a tight fit now, I believe I measured correctly accounting for shrinkage.

a gear stack piece made during my sabbatical, in progress in December 2013 

This week I unloaded the pieces from the kiln and stacked them up, but haven't had a chance to check gear fit. 

The top section doesn't fit quite right without the gear in place so I set it next to the piece.

There is still a lot of work to be done post-firing. I need to apply underglaze to all eight sections and reapply underglaze on at least five of the pieces after the second firing. Then I will spray on glaze and fire all the pieces again. After firing I can begin to put the forms together with the gears. 

The eight ceramic parts of the sculpture unstacked

In the Gallery and Epoxy Camouflage

This weekend I put the finishing touches on my last piece and took my sabbatical work to Oak Hollow Gallery for the new show that opens Tuesday. The show features my ceramic and bike part sculptures and photos by Becky Blair, Jeff Reynolds, Corinne Hines and Eric Tchemitcheff. 

an accidental picture that I kinda like

I made some changes to one of my pieces last week, but I still wasn't entirely happy with it on Saturday. I used a large quantity of epoxy to attach the metal pipe to the ceramic base. I needed a lot of epoxy for stability, but I didn't like the look of the epoxy at the seam between the ceramic and the metal.

the ugly, but strong, epoxy attachment

It is obvious that the ceramic and bike pieces are not built and fired together, but I find myself torn between wanting to acknowledge the built and combined aspect of the work and wanting to hide the attachments. I return to my inspiration, prostheses and mechanical supports, and these, too, may have visible attachments and abrupt changes between the soft natural forms of the body and the hard manufactured or built surfaces of the prosthetic. Part of the appeal for me, aesthetically, is the contrast between the two surfaces, so I hardly want to obfuscate the differences. 

the hidden epoxy

Though I don't think the essential question of attachments and joints between the two materials is answered completely, I addressed the issue in this particular piece by camoflauging the epoxy with paint. I am happier with the piece today than when I first put it together. I expect to explore the question of how to hide or celebrate those mechanical/clay boundaries in future work.

"Bespoke Piece" 2014 --it spins!

I took the last two pieces to the gallery today after my morning boot camp class. Josie, the gallery owner, had my work out already but most of the photographs weren't up yet. I placed my last two pieces and tried to take some pictures of the gallery arrangement, but I was apparently still shaky from my boot camp class, so my photos turned out blurry. 

let's pretend the blur was done intentionally so that you need to come see the show

If you'd like to see the work without the blur, and if you'd like to see the photographers' work, join us this coming Saturday from 2-4pm for an artists' reception. Oak Hollow Gallery is in the breezeway of Chalet Place at 5600 Summitview Avenue in Yakima. The show runs April 8 - May 3, 2014.

the gallery before the work was installed

Bike Wheel and Letter Pieces

The piece I was working on during spring break didn't end up working quite as planned. I intended to put a bike wheel with bulbs on it onto the base I had built with computer keyboard keys. Unfortunately the base is pretty wobbly and the bike wheel is heavy, causing the whole thing to tip over with that much weight. I traded in the wheel for some other parts, though I still have some work to do in balancing the piece.

keyboard letter piece

I altered my plan for the wheel, too, and decided to put it onto another base I had prepared for a different top. I don't believe I ended up finishing the top for that piece--it was one of several pieces that ran up against December's end of sabbatical deadline. The bike wheel was still too heavy for the new, more stable base, so I ended up filling the base with cement. I've never put cement in any of my pieces before, so this was an unusual experience.

spinning bike wheel piece

I'm not sure that this work will be particularly portable, since it is so heavy and wide, but I had fun making it. The top spins on a ball bearing that was part of one of my boxes of bike parts (Thanks, Revolution Cycles). The base, besides being filled with cement, has a bike chain built into/around it. 

I accidentally spun the wheel during the last moments of the photo, causing a strange faded color and a ghostly image in some places

I plan to bring the wheel piece and other work from my sabbatical to Oak Hollow Gallery this weekend to set up for the next show. The exhibition opens April 8 and features work by four photographers (Becky Blair, Corinne Hines, Jeff Reynolds, and Eric Tchemitchell) as well as my ceramic sculpture. Join us for the reception on April 12 from 2-4pm.

Kekino Wall Installation

The most difficult part of installing my work for Biomorph (up now at Esvelt Gallery on the Columbia Basin College campus) was the irregular wall installation, "Kekino Bionica". The grouping consists of ~35 previously shown pieces and ~13 new pieces made this year. To save time, I laid out the installation on paper on the kitchen floor the day before going to the gallery to install.

paper plan taped up as I begin to drill holes for screws

I taped up the papers on either side of this small wall next to the building entrance and drilled holes and put in screws and nails through the paper. At home I had marked and color coded all the screw sizes, so I knew which pieces needed smaller or larger screws. Unfortunately, I am evidently not very good at counting. Though I kept a tally of the screws I needed, then bought 5-10 more of each size, I still ran out of at least two sizes. Something to work on, I guess. I also ended up with more bulbs than I needed for the Ericano installation and two oranges for a snack when I though I only packed one.

screws and nails (but no other marks) after I tore down the paper plan

After the screws were all in, I peeled the paper off the wall, over the screws and nails and laid the papers on the floor because they were marked with sketches of each piece while the wall was blank. I then started to place work. I didn't take pictures during the installation because I was concentrating. I am afraid of heights, so all during the hanging of the high works and even drilling the holes, I am in panic mode. I step up the ladder, place a piece and then step down to relax, breathe and wipe my sweaty hands on my pants. I suspect the process would go more quickly and more smoothly if I could eliminate the panic phase. To add to the panic phase this time around, I knocked a piece off the wall while working on the other side. I have dropped pieces before but I can't remember a piece dropping after it was already hung--at least not since graduate school.

the installation near the door and viewed from the end of the wall

This particular installation wraps around this short wall and into the gallery. I wanted to take advantage of the irregular shape of the gallery walls and the exposed top, which can be seen from the stairs and from the third floor overlook. I had built a couple pieces this summer specifically to bend over the top, but I think I would make the angles more dramatic if I were to do it again. I might also make pieces to bend around the end of the wall.

top view of the installation wall

Because of my aforementioned fear of heights, I asked one of the gallery assistants to drill the holes for the pieces on top of the wall. He is taller, so perhaps her doesn't have to go as high on it as I do. Or other people don't have such a fear of ladders. I placed the two works on the top (held in place with screws), and this was by far the scariest part of the installation for me. Based on the pictures, no one dusted the top of the wall, but I didn't get high enough to see the top in person and, anyway, I wasn't going to volunteer to dust it myself.

interior of gallery view of my installation and Laura's painting

In this show, I am sharing the gallery with Laura Ahola-Young. Laura's paintings are abstract and represent biological forms, similar to my work, though her color choices and medium are obviously different than mine. We tried to arrange the show so that our works relate to one another in the space. I didn't take many pictures of her work, so you'll just have to get down to Pasco to see the show.

first floor gallery view (the brown tables will be moved

The gallery space is unusual. It is both a gallery and the lobby and stairway area for the art building. The gallery features irregular spaces, large windows and overlooks from the second and third floor into the main gallery space on the first floor. Several classrooms open onto the gallery on the first and third floors and the gallery lighting is visible between floors.

Planning a Second Installation

Next week my show, Biomorph, opens at Esvelt Gallery at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, WA. We even got some press! The show opens January 6 and runs through February 6 with a reception January 14 at 1pm. The gallery, on Columbia Basin College's campus, is open M-Th 8am - 8:30pm and Friday 8-noon. My work will be sharing the gallery with paintings by Laura Ahola-Young. 

a similar wall installation for "From the Ground Up" at Larson Gallery in 2012

This Friday I install the show, but I don't have a lot of time to get the pieces set up. The free standing work shouldn't be an issue, but the two wall installations need more planning time and require more time to attach them to the wall. I laid out the bulb installation on paper before our winter vacation (New Hampshire and New York City were a wonderful, and much needed, interruption of my work time).

placing the work as it will hang on the wall

In the past when I have put up this type of installation, I have usually gone in to the gallery, laid out the work on the floor in front of the wall and started to arrange them to fit the space. Then I start to mark the position of the pieces, measure the space between the holes if the piece has more than one, and find a screw or nail that fits. This process works fine and allows me to adjust the installation to quirks in the space. For Yakima River Diaries in at Central Washington University's gallery, I put a piece with hair above an air vent so the hair would move in the air current. But planning and installing at the site tends to stretch out the day beyond the limits I believe I will have on Friday.

paper with sketches for placement of pieces, notes and marks for screw and nail placement

So this time I started planning at home. Like I said in my previous post, I don't actually have the space for laying out a whole installation in my home. I ended up putting away the leaf in the table, and moving chairs out of the way so I could fit a 4' x 7'  roll of paper on the floor of the dining room. Then I laid out the pieces on the paper, trying to stretch the work from a reasonable distance above where floor will be to close to the top of the wall. The wall is 4'4" wide and I'm planning for the installation to wrap around the wall with at least one piece on the top edge of the wall.

closer view of my planning diagram

After I placed the pieces, trying to anticipate how they will look when installed vertically in the gallery (as opposed to flat on the floor), I traced and sketched the position of the pieces in pencil.  For a few pieces, I labeled the sketches with colors because I will have help installing the work on Friday. I also put a Sharpie mark on the paper where I want the nail or screw to be placed. Some of the pieces have one hole in the back, others two or three. For the pieces with multiple holes, I carefully measured the distance between the holes and the angle I want them positioned.

old pieces with small holes (what was I thinking?)

I also measured the size of the opening. The most recent pieces have large holes in the back so they can accommodate a large screw head, but older pieces weren't planned as well and therefore have small holes that only will fit a nail or very narrow screw head.

new piece (from my sabbatical) with a large hole and slot for easier hanging

On December 31, I finished planning the front wall, but I kept out some pieces for the wrap around wall. I plan to place them on a second piece of paper while my daughter is distracted playing games with my husband. I also have a few last minute pieces to epoxy together before the show can be packed up and taken down to Tricities for installation.

extra pieces in a tight proximation of the second wall

Finishing More Sabbatical Work

It is Christmas, so I am obviously not working in my studio today, but I did finish up (or nearly finish) some work at the end of last week that I haven't posted. The piece I was most worried about is an asymmetrical piece that I was never able to balance when it was wet. I built it in sections, like everything else, but because the top pieces were so long and narrow, I held them up with foam to get the angles right, then let them dry laying down. 

early sketch for asymmetrical piece

When I glazed these pieces, they were also laying down on stilts so they didn't have a dry spot on one side.

glazed and fired pieces without bike parts

I put together the bottom and top parts with their bike parts separately. The base has a section behind with chain pieces hanging out. I bought a tool to separate the chain into smaller sections. I also spent some time with the chains and the wire brush wheel in the garage cleaning the dirty grease from the exterior of the chain sections.

first layer of bike chains, upside down while epoxy sets

I epoxied several chains in place and let the epoxy set for a day. The next day I took off the masking tape and added a second layer of chains to create a fuller (and more weighted) effect. After the chains were in place I was able to turn the piece over to continue putting the two larger sections together.

second layer of bike chains taped in place while epoxy sets

The top three long pieces attached to a gear stack which will eventually attach to the base of the sculpture. The original angle I had envisioned turned out to be too dramatic and would have resulted in a sculpture that might tip over. Instead I put several small stacks of gears together with half circle spacers separating the bottom of each gear stack. Once the epoxy sets in the bottom gear stacks, I should be able to attach the top section at a more stable angle. 

long bulb pieces setting with foam supports  /  base with gears setting after chains were epoxied in place

Not all of the work I started this sabbatical will necessarily be finished before my January "Biomorph" show in Pasco. One that may or may not be finished is a computer key piece I started near the end of my work time.

bike wheel top with bulbs setting in place

The idea for this sculpture is that the bike wheel top might be a moving piece that spins around on top of a metal rod that is attached into the green gear of the base. Of course a bike wheel is a rather large spinning piece, perhaps even unwieldy, so the balance will need to be tested and assessed after the bulbs are secured to the wheel.

base during building with green gear to hold rod and bike wheel

The biggest problem may not be putting on the bike wheel, it may just be that I run out of time to finish the open end of the base. On Friday I epoxied the keys in place. It was a surprisingly fun activity. The keys snap in place like they would on a keyboard. I used epoxy to ensure they wouldn't snap out of place later.

base after firing and key attachment

The two bike fork and pitcher plant pieces will probably be finished before the show, though they are not finished now. I have attached the bike forks to the bases and most of the pitcher plants to the tops. The pieces are now tall and narrow which negatively affects their stability, but I will be adding more weight to the base of each so that should improve.

unfired pitcher plant base and bisque fired pitcher plant tops before glazing

The bike forks are at a large scale that, in some ways, dwarfs the bases themselves. Right now each of these pieces is taped up and a few pieces are missing from each, so its hard to get a sense of the whole piece.

base with bike fork being epoxied in place

Three of the pitcher plants have interior attachments that mimic a plant's stamen. The others are more complex on their exteriors.  All of the pitcher plants attach in some way to the top of the bike fork.

pitcher plants with "stamens' being epoxied in place

The first round of pitcher plans slide onto the top fork and stack on top of one another. The others are more complex, with some sliding on, others tucking around the middle of the fork and one slotting onto the side of the bottom of the fork. 

 

two sets of pitcher plants taped in place while the epoxy sets

The pitcher plant / bike fork pieces are unfinished today because the end caps aren't attached. I have glazed them, but they were not ready to take out of the kiln before the holiday. I should be able to attach them in the few days before my show is installed.

glazed end caps in the kiln

The end caps with be attached to the base with gear stacks or other bike parts. The earlier base has just one end cap. The later base has four end caps with gear stacks and four small end caps with ball bearings.

bike fork bases with some gears and end caps in place