Polymer Art Archive

If you are a new visitor to Polymer Art Archive, you can find background about this event in the 2 posts, Past, Present Future and All About MIPCES.

HOUSES

7 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ x 1 1/4″

For the exhibition, Kathleen Amt presented a sort of “housing development” which consisted of 7 houses ranging in size from 4″ to 7″ high. Her submission for the catalog was not so much an artist statement as an other visual offering. Here’s what Kathy Amt submitted:

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Elise asked me to lead a small team of volunteers to research and write about gatherings that influenced the development of polymer as an art medium. This is the second of these posts and we hope to follow up with more. Special thanks to Steven Ford who provided this information about the Arrowmont Conference.

Name of Event: Making History: Pushing the Craft of Polymer Clay, the first national Conference of the National Polymer Clay Guild

Sponsoring Organization: National Polymer Clay Guild

Dates and Place held: Arrowmont School of Arts and Craft, Gatlinburg, TN; September 7-13, 1997

Mission Statement: The theme was to challenge polymer clay users to think differently about how they use the material by adapting traditions and techniques from other media; most of the polymer clay techniques at the time came from glass techniques. We wanted to expand the adaptive techniques to include metal, printmaking, fabric design and construction, and ceramics. Steven Ford envisioned bringing in “Masters of Other Media” to work with polymer clay, adapt and teach new techniques developed from their working methods.

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In Jed Perl’s article, “The Artisanal Urge” American Craft (June/July 2008), he defends the “human desire to make something with one’s own hands” against the current stylistic trend of a more detached approach to creating art. Perl, an author of several books on art and the art critic for The New Republic, argues that the point of creating art is to allow the hand of the maker to be expressive whatever the chosen medium- be it paint, clay, ink or metal. Continue Reading »

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INSOMNIA BOWL, Undreamt Dreams
12¾” x 11¾” x 3¼”

For the MIPCES catalog, Margaret Regan wrote:

“I like images that float, and my work is characterized by a high degree of drift and space. There’s a dream state where you recognize an object, but not it’s surroundings. I love the interaction of control with happenstance, and the blend it produces seems true to how we live our lives.”

Recently, Margaret reflected: Continue Reading »

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ANEMONE HAT
polymer clay, brass, velvet, aluminum screen
7” diameter, 3 1/2”h

In the MIPCES catalog, Cynthia Toops wrote: “Dan and I create beads for elaborate jewelry pieces. For this project I wanted to make a full-size hat and imposed one restriction- no beads. We partially encased wire elements in polymer clay in a different way and by forcing myself out of the jewelry mode, it automatically gave me freedom to experiment. What began with the hat will become a starting point for new jewelry ideas.”

More recently, this is what Cynthia had to say about her piece: “I wanted to make a hat and I’ve always been interested in marine biology. Growing up in Hong Kong, I went to the beach every chance I could. I would swim and beach comb all day and that was my idea of a perfect day. I missed that horribly in Des Moines, Iowa where I did my undergraduate degree in Biology. It was better in Seattle where I could see the ocean often but getting there was another matter. In art school I would do silkscreens of marine life and sea creatures.

Then came polymer clay and jewelry. Continue Reading »

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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.” Continue Reading »

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OLA NYINGMA
peace-pole, prayer-wheel
Approx. 14′ h

In 1996, when Tory Hughes first heard rumors about Michael Grove’s Wall of Polymer, she immediately sensed a creative challenge. I remember the sly smile on her lips, the emphatic quality of her voice when she swore not to be outdone by “the men.” If anybody was going to construct the BIGGEST sculpture in the exhibit, if anybody was going to flex the most MASSIVE artistic muscles in the room, it certainly was going to be a woman, a Tory not a Tony! She laughed when I recently reminded her of that conversation.

In 1997, Tory’s answer to that challenge was Ola Nyingma. Here’s what she had to say more recently, reflecting on that piece:

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Ruth Anne Grove, WAITING TO DISAPPEAR
wall mural, approx 15 feet wide

We all know and can appreciate the rallying cry of the 1970’s environmental movement, “Small is Beautiful.” Many polymer artists have put that aphorism into practice. Cynthia Toops made “small is beautiful” into what you might call a devotional practice, a religious worship.

So when the director of the OCCC extended the MIPCES challenge to create something that really “pushed the envelope,” Ruth Anne and Michael Grove immediately took up that challenge by considering exactly the opposite artistic approach, asking “Can’t Supersized be Beautiful?” Each of them began planning monumental sculptures of a size that had never been previously attempted in polymer. Continue Reading »

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The first time I encountered Leslie Blackford’s inventive creations was the summer of 2007. It was decidedly different from the figurative polymer work I had seen before. From the early days of polymer clay, many artists have found the material to be well suited to sculpting. Two notable artists who use polymer in a sculptural or figurative manner are Katherine Dewey and Maureen Carlson. Although stylistically very different, both Katherine’s and Maureen’s pieces are fanciful, and highly accomplished in terms of technique, finish, and completeness of an idea. To me, their figures always seem to allude to a story.

Leslie’s figures also suggest a story but generally one that has a bit of an edge. Her work often engages the viewer with intimations of irony, emotion and darkness despite their seemingly whimsical or humorous appearance. The immediacy of her approach is present in both her imagery and her style. Leslie’s art has a folksy quality to it, although to me, it also recalls the imagery of the 15th century Netherlanders painter, Hieronymus Bosch. The titles of Leslie’s pieces offer hints as to what she might have been thinking. Her method is direct, her techniques tend to be simple and although most of her figures are conceptually complete, her workmanship is not meticulous. One gets the idea that she needs to express her ideas quickly before both the time and the impetus evaporates. Continue Reading »

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Elise asked me to lead a small team of volunteers to research and write about gatherings that influenced the development of polymer as an art medium. This is the first of these posts and we hope to follow up with more. Special thanks to Nancy Travers who organized all the materials about MIPCES.

Masters’ Invitational Polymer Clay Exhibition and Sale (MIPCES): The Cutting Edge in Polymer Clay

The event consisted of a month-long exhibition featuring at least one major experimental piece from each of the invited artists. The kick-off weekend events included exhibiting artists’ lectures, workshops, demos, and slide shows; a sale of polymer clay wearables and collectibles by the exhibiting artists; and auction to benefit the National Polymer Clay Guild. OCCC sponsored one and two day workshops during the rest of the month-long exhibition period.

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