Object Feature
About These Works
1. Bill Abright, Sailor, 2011, ceramic with underglazes and acrylic paint, 12 x 18 x 8". Photo by Bill Abright
I merge the morphology of nature into my figurative work to communicate parallels with man's existence, and I insert contradictions among animal species to emphasize the link between their fate and ours...B.A.
Bill Abright explores the complexities of the human condition through clay figures and large-format surrealistic graphite or charcoal drawings and watercolors. As a native of Central California, he has been working in the Bay Area arts community for neraly forty years as a practicing artist and teacher at College of Marin in Kentfield. In ceramics, he explores figuration, developing an abstracted style, coupled with periodic and extended development of the vessel, especially raku. Structural layering, use of voids, severed or sliced pottery to build figuration, and surface detail through coloration define his approach used to depict threatened nature. www.billabright.com
Read more about Bill Abright here
I merge the morphology of nature into my figurative work to communicate parallels with man's existence, and I insert contradictions among animal species to emphasize the link between their fate and ours...B.A.
Bill Abright explores the complexities of the human condition through clay figures and large-format surrealistic graphite or charcoal drawings and watercolors. As a native of Central California, he has been working in the Bay Area arts community for neraly forty years as a practicing artist and teacher at College of Marin in Kentfield. In ceramics, he explores figuration, developing an abstracted style, coupled with periodic and extended development of the vessel, especially raku. Structural layering, use of voids, severed or sliced pottery to build figuration, and surface detail through coloration define his approach used to depict threatened nature. www.billabright.com
Read more about Bill Abright here
2. Gary Molitor, Camardoune Cup #6, 1984, cast porcelain with underglaze colors and clear overglaze, 5 x 5"
I love porcelain. It's white - pure - hard and filled with the mysteries of the far east. Traditional pottery is like meditation; so soothing and peaceful. But for me my life has never been about peace. Where I could, whether or not I wanted to, I created tension, contrast and pushed the limits. This cup was the first exploration of new ideas from the past...G.M.
Gary Molitor creates sculptures based on a personal mythology. His imaginary world is filled with colorful and delicated porcelain pieces, representing his journey to discover universal truth through the act of creating. His works are inspired by biological, microscopic, skeletal and horticultrual elements informed by the experience of making prosthetic limbs. www.garymolitor.com
I love porcelain. It's white - pure - hard and filled with the mysteries of the far east. Traditional pottery is like meditation; so soothing and peaceful. But for me my life has never been about peace. Where I could, whether or not I wanted to, I created tension, contrast and pushed the limits. This cup was the first exploration of new ideas from the past...G.M.
Gary Molitor creates sculptures based on a personal mythology. His imaginary world is filled with colorful and delicated porcelain pieces, representing his journey to discover universal truth through the act of creating. His works are inspired by biological, microscopic, skeletal and horticultrual elements informed by the experience of making prosthetic limbs. www.garymolitor.com
3. Yoshio Taylor, Resurgence, 2010. Three story mural, Sacramento, California
This impressive mural is installed at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center’s Surgery and Emergency Services. It took the artist over 18 months to design, carve in low relief, and glaze the 500 square tiles. This is the first time in Taylor’s extensive career that the artist combined the red terra-cotta clay with a glazed surface. The resulting effect is a vibrant natural scene which suits its commissioned placement in the hospital.
Measuring 17 feet wide and 32 feet in height, a cascading waterfall offers calm and strength to those coming to the hospital in critical need. Mythical fauna and medicinal flora, like Echinacea and dandelions surround the landing pool. As the artist states, “I wanted an image that would soothe the people, calm people down and at the same time project a positive image. In most cultures, water is healing...” While this large scale public art piece presents well-being, it also references the concept of nature as portrayed in an elongated Japanese scroll.
Yoshio Taylor is presently a professor of ceramics at Cosumnes River College, Sacramento. He is also a recognized figurative sculptor with public art projects throughout the city. His approach to public art blends the historical, cultural, and historical. “Public art,” he believes, “should reflect the cultural personality of the surrounding communities.” www.yoshiotaylorart.com
This impressive mural is installed at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center’s Surgery and Emergency Services. It took the artist over 18 months to design, carve in low relief, and glaze the 500 square tiles. This is the first time in Taylor’s extensive career that the artist combined the red terra-cotta clay with a glazed surface. The resulting effect is a vibrant natural scene which suits its commissioned placement in the hospital.
Measuring 17 feet wide and 32 feet in height, a cascading waterfall offers calm and strength to those coming to the hospital in critical need. Mythical fauna and medicinal flora, like Echinacea and dandelions surround the landing pool. As the artist states, “I wanted an image that would soothe the people, calm people down and at the same time project a positive image. In most cultures, water is healing...” While this large scale public art piece presents well-being, it also references the concept of nature as portrayed in an elongated Japanese scroll.
Yoshio Taylor is presently a professor of ceramics at Cosumnes River College, Sacramento. He is also a recognized figurative sculptor with public art projects throughout the city. His approach to public art blends the historical, cultural, and historical. “Public art,” he believes, “should reflect the cultural personality of the surrounding communities.” www.yoshiotaylorart.com
4. David Kuraoka, Sculpture, c. 2015 Phoenix, Arizona
David Kuraoka’s columnar sculpture was made at the industrial site of Mission Clay Building Products in Phoenix, Arizona. For many years, this clay pipe manufacturing business has invited artists to its site to make towering sculpture from extruded pipes. While most artists in residence prefer to modify the columnar pipe form, Kuraoka has built his sculpture with tightly stacked 5-inch clay rings that are used in the stabilizing process before firing. Measuring approximately 6 feet high and 30 inches in diameter, Kuraoka, made a freestanding form that easily endures the outdoor elements. His one-person exhibition, Industrial Scale: Artistic Precision, was on view at the Honolulu Museum of Art that featured his Mission Clay sculpture.
David Kuraoka is a frequent visitor to Mission Clay. He also maintains studios in Hawaii and San Francisco where was the head of the San Francisco State University Ceramics Department from 1982 to 2008.
David Kuraoka’s columnar sculpture was made at the industrial site of Mission Clay Building Products in Phoenix, Arizona. For many years, this clay pipe manufacturing business has invited artists to its site to make towering sculpture from extruded pipes. While most artists in residence prefer to modify the columnar pipe form, Kuraoka has built his sculpture with tightly stacked 5-inch clay rings that are used in the stabilizing process before firing. Measuring approximately 6 feet high and 30 inches in diameter, Kuraoka, made a freestanding form that easily endures the outdoor elements. His one-person exhibition, Industrial Scale: Artistic Precision, was on view at the Honolulu Museum of Art that featured his Mission Clay sculpture.
David Kuraoka is a frequent visitor to Mission Clay. He also maintains studios in Hawaii and San Francisco where was the head of the San Francisco State University Ceramics Department from 1982 to 2008.