NCECA and The Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities will host the 2011 “Uncommon Ground: Impact and Influence” Exhibition from September 15 – November 13, 2011 curated by Linda Ganstrom, Collin Parson, and Bebe Alexander.   “Uncommon Ground: Impact and Influence” will showcase the contributions of ceramic innovators west of the Mississippi River, who through their authenticity and originality blazed frontiers and powerfully impacted the ceramics field.  The opening reception for the exhibition is on September 15, 2011 from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. at the Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd., Arvada, CO.

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This life-size handbuilt porcelain narwhal skull comes alive with a video projection, sound, and reindeer moss stuffed silk chiffon tentacles.  The narwhal, the mythical unicorn of the sea, whose horn was once worth more than its weight in gold, is still shrouded in mystery on the actual use of its horn.  Is it for protection?  Communication?  Navigation? The decaled subtext spiraled into the horns and the projected video attempt to raise awareness for the narwhal and other endangered cetaceans which are hunted in the thousands each year despite a 1968 moratorium on whaling.

Over 150  souvenir sized slipcast earthenware and soft stuffed narwhals with latex horns swam up the 15′ tall gallery walls and through the space.  As the Collective Gallery was also a functioning tattoo business, track lighting during business hours created moving, layered shadows of the narwhals in many sizes on the walls.  The souvenir narwhals could be adopted during the exhibition and proceeds benefit the Sea Shepherds Ocean Conservancy as seen on Animal Planet’s Whale Wars.  This lighting condition allowed gallery patrons to closely inspect and choose which narwhal to adopt.  The walls became increasingly bare over the course of the exhibit as narwhals were adopted and the empty pegs were marked with small labels reading “This narwhal has been rescued.”

The narwhals were illuminated in the evening hours by a video projection of underwater waves with the eerie soundtrack of whale songs.

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The building process.

This interactive wish granting sculpture is complete with detachable wishbones, wishpads, and tentacle pens. Submit your wish and make a new friend to break a wishbone with. The wishbones are replenished throughout the exhibition. Covert wishes become exposed to voyeuristic eyes as the inner cavity fills. How uncommon is your wish for the future?

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The building process.

This national juried solo Concurrent Independent Exhibition at the 2011 NCECA “Tides of Change” Conference at the Collective Gallery and Creative Workspace, St. Petersburg, FL was on view Tues. – Sun. 12-10 pm, March 30 – April 2, 2011.

What you are willing to do to retrieve your object of desire?  The artist invites you to partake in this interactive, multi-media sculptural social experience.  Real and implied interactions include biting into, picking up and using, destroying, or winning artwork to take with you as a souvenir. This exhibition aims to question passive spectatorship of art and by extension media and life.  What pushes us out of our comfort zone to become an active participant in both the gallery and beyond?

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Taste Your Luck is covered with decadent Belgian white and dark chocolate tongues.  The tongues have imbedded mylar moralizing fortunes & chances to win souvenir versions of The Bone sculpture. The viewer casts judgement upon the sculpture and in return you too are judged.  The smell of Belgian chocolate entices mouth watering, but does the fear of contamination stop you from biting a tongue?  Does the surveillance dome overhead or crowd control stop one from biting off all of the tongues and winning all of the sculptures?

An attendant is on hand at the interactive opening reception to ensure biting only not touching.  The aftermath of bitten tongues with voyeuristically exposed fortunes is on view the remainder of exhibition.

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A national juried solo exhibition and visiting artist lecture at Yavapai College’s Art Gallery at 1100 East Sheldon Street in Prescott, AZ from May 21 – August 12, 2012.  The interactive opening reception will be from 5-7 pm on May 21, 2012.  The gallery hours are Tuesday & Wednesday, 10 am – 7 pm and Thursday – Saturday, 10 am – 3 pm.  It is closed Sunday & Monday.

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Sensory overload is a national juried group exhibition at Corcoran College of Art & Design’s Gallery 31 at 500 17th St. NW in Washington, D.C. The exhibition is on view July 7- August 1, 2010.  The opening reception is Thursday, July 8 from 5-7 pm.

Gallery 31 is the Corcoran College of Art + Design’s dedicated exhibition space in Washington, D.C., and is open during museum hours (Wednesday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday 9-5; Thursday 10-9; closed Monday and Tuesday). Admission is always free.

“The most clearly synesthetic object here is Lea Zoltowski’s Nutstand (Help Yourself), a towering, demonic earthenware receptacle filled with walnuts and almonds. It shares a pedestal with crackers and a small sign reading, “Please touch with care and help yourself to nuts.” In addition to the tactile experience of grazing against the sharply fanged chambers of the piece while reaching for a nut, the sounds of guests cracking open shells could be heard throughout the gallery. Bringing together image, sound, taste, touch, and smell, Nutstand unifies the senses while defying explanation.”
- Gan Uyeda: Uncommon Sense: Sensory Overload at Gallery 31

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The Contemporary Clay Biennial is a national juried group exhibition at the Western Colorado Center for the Arts in Grand Junction, CO juried by Pete Pinnell. The exhibition is on view May 14- June 26, 2010. The opening reception is from 7-9 pm on June 4, 2010.

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Mammut encourages the viewer to eat tasty dried red banana slices and other goodies filling the mouth cavity, eye sockets and innermost cavities of this archaic skull.   This investigation is uneasy as the large horns graze uncomfortably close to your stomach as you reach.  Mammut Too? is a smaller souvenir wall mounted trophy size version (H: 35″ x W: 25″ x D: 15″) for home use.

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Narwhals, the mythical unicorn of the sea, whose horn was once worth more than its weight in gold is still shrouded in mystery on the use of its horn. Is it for protection? Communication? Navigation?

The Narwhal is on the red list of endangered species published by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) which means that they are at the highest risk of global extinction. The Canada-Greenland Joint Commission on the Conservation and Management of Narwhal and Beluga and the International Whaling Commission have both stated that narwhal hunting is not sustainable. Despite their endangered status, 500 narwhals were slaughtered on one day alone in Canada in 2008.

My narwhals swim through galleries to raise awareness for the plight of narwhals and other endangered cetaceans which are hunted in the thousands every year in the name of “research” despite a 1986 moratorium on all commercial whaling. Individual wall mountable ceramic narwhals can be adopted for $100 each.

Proceeds from this piece benefit the efforts of The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as seen on Animal Planet’s “Whale Wars” and “The Cove.”

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The casting process.