So many people I admire on this site, definitely worth checking it out.

We’re off to Houston, TX tomorrow for NCECA, the annual ceramics conference.  I’m very excited to have a sculptural piece showing in the 2013 NCECA Biennial along with the artists pictured above.  The opening reception is Thursday, March 21, 2013, 5:30-9pm at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft.  I’ll post some of my favorite pictures from the conference when I return.  Can’t wait to soak up some of that Texas sun.

Erica Iman received her BFA from University of Missouri Columbia and her MFA from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She served 2 years in the U.S. Peace Corps in Mongolia before participating in the 2007 IWCAT ceramics program in Tokoname, Japan.

]]> http://ericaiman.com/2013/01/30/lillstreet-gallery-featured-artist/feed/ 0 ericaiman LillStreet Art Center Erica Iman Erica Iman cups Erica Iman teapot Erica Iman mug http://ericaiman.com/2012/12/09/chicago-and-baltimore/ http://ericaiman.com/2012/12/09/chicago-and-baltimore/#comments Mon, 10 Dec 2012 02:35:25 +0000 Erica Iman http://ericaiman.com/?p=572 ]]> Chicago’s Lillstreet Art Center is now carrying my functional work.

You can purchase or view the work in their Online Gallery

Current Show:  Baltimore Clayworks Winterfest 2012

Large Bowl

Glaze detail inside bowl

Display of Work

Containment

I have picked up, moved, shaped,

and lightened myself of many tons of clay,

and those tons lifted, moved, and shaped me, 

delivering me to this living-space

I wake and move about in,

space perhaps equal to that I have opened and enclosed

in plate, cup, bowl, jug, jar.

I am thankful no one ever

led me to the pit I’d help to make in Earth,

or showed me all the clay at once.

I’m grateful no one ever said, There.

That heap’s about a hundred fifty tons.

Go make yourself a life.

And oh, yes, here’s a drum of ink.

See what you can do with that.

I wouldn’t have known where to begin.
             

from, “Calling the Planet   Home” by Jack Troy.

Large Bowl, Erica Iman, 10″x23″x15″

Schlafly Art Outside is here.  Ashley Drissel, Phil Finder and I will be setting up our booth and wares this Friday at Schlafly Bottleworks in St. Louis.  This art fair is about good beer, unique artwork, and listening to local music on a bale of straw.

Schlafly Bottleworks Art Outside

Fri, Sept. 7, 5-10pm

Sat, Sept. 8, 10am-10pm

Sun, Sept. 9, noon-4pm

I will be showing and selling both sculptural and functional work as part of the Contemporary Art Museum City-Wide Open Studios this weekend.  Since my studio set-up in St. Louis is still in the works, I will be showing with a group of other artists at the Regional Arts Commission (RAC) in The Loop across from the Pageant. 

6128 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, Missouri

Many St. Louis artists will be opening their studios for the weekend and there are pre- and post-party events happening at the Contemporary Art Museum.  Check the website for details, lists of artists, and a map.

“Bridges” 2012, porcelain, glaze, cone 10 reduction

“Bridges” was awarded second place at the San Angelo National Ceramic Competition juried by Garth Clark and Mark DelVecchio.  I was also very excited to have the piece purchased by the San Angelo Museum of Fine Art.

Artist’s Statement

 I am interested in creating objects that are obvious products of the raw geological materials and formative processes from which they are derived.  By exploring forms that teeter on the familiar and reference natural phenomena, be it glacial ice or weathered rock, I am searching for a more visceral connection to the tactile world. 

Often in simplicity and solitude there is clarity: in the case of my artwork, an opportunity to be absorbed by an object or see something of ourselves reflected in it.  Exploring the essence of our physical existence, through both the rational and the emotional lenses, I feel more deeply and assuredly engaged in my effort toward finding something meaningful.

This thesis exhibition is an opportunity to show my sculptural work in the context of an emotionally charged space.  The history of the Lemp Brewery, along with the 19^th century brick and mortar construction, creates an emotional association within me.  The structure is in a state of decay but kept marginally alive through the attention and effort of a few individuals.  The raw state of the space, with exposed brick, peeling paint, collapsing ceilings, and yellowing windows demonstrates nature’s constant influence on the constructs of the man-made.  I can feel and see this natural interplay, which is vital in my efforts to make sense of the world that surrounds me and find something at the root and essence of my existence.