By Trina Ortega
The Sopris Sun
When crafting something functional, a clay artist uses her hands to shape a piece. The end result is a mug, cup, bowl, vase or dish that is handled by a person in his or her home.
The strength of a craft media such as ceramics comes from its connection to the maker and user through touch and a historical association with the home. The Carbondale Clay Center’s February exhibit will demonstrate that dynamic with a variety of plates crafted by local and national artists.
“Pretty Personal” opens with a reception from 6-8 p.m., Friday Feb. 5, at the center at 135 Main St.
“Ceramic plates have historically been a form that artists have decorated to tell stories. This exhibition highlights artists that use narratives in their work and the stories they are telling touch on domestic themes questioning identity,” said the clay center’s resident technician Kelly McKibben, who curated the show.
The exhibition will include work by Julie Guyot from Tallahassee, Fla., Jason Burnett of North Carolina, and Holly Curcio, K Cesark, Sarah Moore and McKibben of Carbondale.
The exhibition includes artists who explore the plates as commemorative objects and souvenirs – vehicles for sharing narratives in a contemporary manner.
“I chose artists for this exhibition whose work seeks to examine the home environment and give continuity to the exhibition through a shared functional form,” Mc-Kibben said.
Each artist will display multiple plates so the viewer gets a strong sense of the artist’s point of view. The plates are beautiful and densely decorated, becoming small worlds in themselves.
The plate is a form of expression McKibben uses to find her “domestic identity because it is an object that belongs in a house,” she said.
For more information, visit carbondaleclay.org.