MIPCES Exhibition: Pier Voulkos

Pier Voulkos, Pockets and Pillows of Air, 1997

POCKETS AND PILLOWS OF AIR
2 ½’ x 3’ x 3″

For the MIPCES catalog, Pier wrote: “This unique clay softens before it hardens in the baking. So most often a large form needs some kind of internal or external armature to keep it from distorting or collapsing while it bakes. I tried air as an armature. Each of the enclosed shapes have a little extra puff of air sealed inside. (I blew them up like balloons.) When they bake, the hot air expands and holds the form.”

Pier Voulkos, artist with her 2 installations at MIPCES, 1997

Pier Voulkos with her 2 sculptural installations

Pier Voulkos, Yellow Balloons, 1997

Yellow Balloons

Pier Voulkos, Pockets and Pillows of Air detail, 1997

Pockets and Pillows of Air, detail

I cannot remember a time in my life that I wasn't interested in looking at art, talking about art and the making of art. In 1990 I earned a Phd in art history at the University of Maryland. My first experiences with polymer clay were in 1992, but I consider my real work with the medium to date from 1999.