Lauren Skelly was the recipient of a solo show award from our competitive exhibition, Tristate of Mind, curated by Leslie Ferrin of Ferrin Contemporary and an award-committee comprised of Glenn Adamson, Barry Harwood, David McFadden, and Jennifer Scanlan.

Artist Statement

Freshly Funk surveys my methods of making assemblage sculptures, conglomerations, installations, and figurines. I consider myself as an explorer, seeking new ways of layering, swirling, forcing, bending, breaking and reusing surfaces. A conversation between elements of nature emerges from her practice: flora, fauna, rocks, and the tooled objects made by man are called to mind. In combining them, I forge a new perspective of these elements.

There’s that sensation of falling for process, the chase of finding the unexpected and learning how it occurs. From that knowledge I attain, I make intentional decisions regarding textural surfaces, glazes, slips and clay applications, truly changing the context of the piece from a study to a solution. I respond to changes and observe balance in my work, seeking to push an uneasy tension between materials and form. Each new sculpture is a moment, something new that has been achieved or understood, taking me further into my experience with ceramics.

For Stacked & Cracked, the piece was initially a totem of processes I had come to learn in a short period of time. As much as I tried to pull away from the idea of a vessel, this form embodies as a decorative vessel. Greatly because of its bottom, which is casted from crystal candlestick holder from Goodwill. This piece is about changes, weathering, layering as a way to compact knowledge, and to mark those moments of unearthing my process.

Biography

Dedicated to the investigations of ceramics, Lauren Skelly explores surface, form and the layering of histories in her sculptures. Skelly draws from nature, industrial objects and objects tooled by man to assemble her totems of layered histories. In 2015, Skelly received her Master of Fine Arts degree from Rhode Island School of Design with a concentration in Ceramics. Skelly studied at Adelphi University, from 2008-2014 where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Arts degrees.  Lauren received the Thomas McNulty Award for Excellence in Sculpture in May 2012. Skelly has attended a variety of workshops and apprentice opportunities throughout the United States and in Italy.

In 2015 Skelly organized a show entitled, "Of Earth," featuring fifteen artists at Anchor Gallery in spring 2015 that coincided with the annual conference for the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA). The show explored various methods of making ceramic inspired work from foil prints of pots, to Raku fired to figurative and representational works. This July, Skelly will be exhibiting her first solo show, "Freshly Funk," at the Clay Art Center. This solo show was awarded to her by a sub committee made up of Glenn Adamson, Barry Harwood, David McFadden and Jennifer Scanlan for her work entitled, "Cracked & Stacked." The work was apart of a group show curated by Leslie Ferrin in conjunction with the Clay Art Center entitled, "Tristate of Mind." The show celebrated emerging ceramic artists within a 75-mile radium of the Clay Art Center.

Since 2008 Skelly has exhibited her work nationally at the Cape Cod Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Adelphi University, Chico Gallery, Blue Line Gallery, Nassau Community College, Celadon Gallery, Providence Art Club Gallery, Anchor Providence, Art Center and Patchogue Art Council Gallery.

Barbara Rittenburg fellow, Chris Pickett, and Artist-in-Residence, Max Seinfeld, hold their duo show, Space and Time, as their exit exhibition at Clay Art Center.

Chris Pickett Bio

Chris grew up in the 1970’s and 80’s in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Childhood experiences filled with Lincoln Logs, improvised tree house construction and action figure forts constructed of twigs and pine needles, taught Chris to love working with his hands at an early age. These early experiences would become a significant influence on his work years later. Chris earned his BFA from the University of Tennessee in 2001. In the years that followed, Chris maintained a studio practice at his home in Chattanooga, while frequently working as a studio assistant at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. In 2008,Chris began his graduate studies at the University of Florida and was awarded his MFA in 2011.

Max Seinfeld Bio

Max received his BFA from the University of Hartford, Connecticut in 2014 and finished his postbaccalaureate studies from the State University of New York at New Paltz, New York in 2015. After completing a four month assistantship at Peters Valley School of craft in Layton, New Jersey he was accepted as a resident artist at the Clay Art Center in Port Chester, New York. In addition to a formal education he works as a part time studio assistant for Doug Peltzman Pottery and will be continuing his residency for a second year at The Clay Art Center.