Tag: ceramics

REVIEW: “touch” by Ericka Lopez

Maggie Watson 1 Comment

In most art exhibitions, there’s one rule that should never be broken: don’t touch the art. But visitors to Ericka Lopez’s “touch” at the Institute for the Humanities are not just allowed, but encouraged, to break this taboo.

Ericka Lopez is a blind artist who works primarily through touch, and uses her memories of color from before she completely lost her vision to inform her color choices. Her exhibition consists of a mix of textile, ceramic and assemblage works, all of which viewers are “invited to gently touch.” Across the multitude of media, there are many textures to explore.

The punch-rug textile squares, in a rainbow of marbled colors, are shaggy and soft—but sometimes punctuated by beads and buttons, or a particularly scratchy type of yarn. The coil-built ceramic vessels are warped and bent into organic forms, appearing so flexible that I was almost surprised by how solid they felt under my fingers. And the assemblage works, sewn together out of everything from keys to spools of thread to fuzzy balls of yarn, were a surprising mix of textures. Sometimes, running my hand across a collection of beads would create delightful moments of sound as well, contributing to the truly multi-sensory experience.

Details of pieces from Ericka Lopez’s “touch.” Photos by reviewer.

Closing my eyes and exploring the works with only my hands was a lesson in just how nuanced my sense of touch could be. I learned from the textiles that there were many more different kinds of “soft” than I knew how to describe, and from the ceramics that a glossy glaze feels completely different from a matte one.

In her exhibition statement, curator Amanda Krugliak writes that “As visitors to the gallery become active participants, there is the opportunity for deeper human connection beyond surfaces.” It is one thing to be merely a viewer of an artwork, and another to touch it, to rub your fingers through loops of yarn or dangling beads. When my touch shifted an arrangement of keys on one of the assemblage works, I realized that it would be ever-so-slightly different for the next person to enter the gallery. The opportunity to participate in an exhibition in this way, and to be connected to the artwork in the same way that the artist was as she created it, is a rare and precious one.

The exhibition contains multiple features to make Lopez’s artwork accessible to blind and low vision visitors, including braille labels on the walls beside the pieces and QR codes leading to visual descriptions of the artwork. (There are no labels printed in plain text—sighted viewers will have to pick up a paper exhibition catalog just outside the gallery in order to read information about the pieces.) All exhibition materials are also available in both Spanish and English.

While the colors and textures may be visually stunning, pictures don’t do this exhibition justice. Ericka Lopez’s diverse and captivating body of work is best seen—and felt—in person.

“touch” is on view at the Institute for the Humanities Gallery until December 13th. Detailed information about accessibility can be found here.

REVIEW: Touch by Ericka Lopez

Madi Hammond Leave a comment

“Please do not touch the art.”

In most museums, art exhibits or galleries– at least that I have attended– that message is posted loud and clear. But at Touch, an art exhibition by Ericka Lopez housed in the Institute for the Humanities Gallery, touching the art is encouraged.

Lopez was born with limited vision and today is completely blind. As a result, her art-making process comes through the sense of touch and her memories of color. The exhibit houses three different types of pieces: mixed-media sculptures, ceramics and punch-rug textiles. 

I walked into the small square room with some trepidation. The exhibit is housed in the Institute for the Humanities Gallery, a square room on the first floor of Thayer Academic Building. I went during the middle of a weekday, so the gallery was understandably quiet. What drew my eye immediately were the circular mixed-media sculptures hanging on the wall. Each one looks different, and are colorful amalgamations of yarn, beads, buttons, fabric and even keys. 

Multi-media sculptures at Touch, by Ericka Lopez. Courtesy of Madison Hammond.

It felt unnatural to touch an art exhibit. I gently reached out, and realized how much the texture of the piece added to the experience. The plastic beads and bundles of string contrast each other visually, but they contrast even more in texture. These everyday objects take on a new life in these pieces.

I moved on to Lopez’s punch-rugs. Each of these pieces follow a cohesive color scheme, and with the eye look a bit plainer than the multi-media sculptures since they don’t include as many mediums as the sculptures. (Don’t worry, though; there are still plenty of beads and buttons here).

Punch-rug pieces from Touch, by Ericka Lopez. Courtesy of Madison Hammond.

Despite being completely blind, Lopez uses color masterfully. According to Amanda Krugliak, the exhibit curator, Lopez has figured out how to distinguish different colored materials based on touch and scent. This unique method is part of what makes Lopez’s pieces so creative and imaginative; the exhibit is unlike any other that I’ve seen. It pushes the boundaries of the future of art.

I decided to try closing my eyes before touching each of these pieces– and this is how I suggest enjoying most of the exhibit, but these pieces especially. Lopez places different textiles in intentional patterns to create a landscape that comes alive as you feel it. 

In the center of the room, Lopez’s ceramic pieces sit atop two tables. The deeper meaning behind these pieces escaped me at first. I stared at the beautifully glazed coil pots before scanning the QR code to read about the pieces, where I learned that the warped and lopsided shapes come from Lopez hugging or holding the pots before firing. The relationship between the body and the art, the artist and her pieces, is what makes these pieces meaningful. 

Ceramics at Touch, by Ericka Lopez. Courtesy of Madison Hammond.

Accessibility within the arts can seem tricky. How can one convey a two-dimensional painting to someone who can’t see the painting? But exhibits like this, which also include exhibit descriptions in Braille next to the pieces, show that visual art can interact with more senses than just sight. For someone like myself, who is not visually impaired, the addition of the physical texture and sensory experience of touching the pieces made the exhibit feel so much more personal. Maybe more art should be made to be touched.

Touch is open 9-5, Monday through Friday, until December 13.

REVIEW: Dopamine Dressing

Ella Larsen Leave a comment

2:00pm • Saturday, January 14, 2023 • UMMA

This Saturday, I visited the UMMA to take a closer look at YehRim Lee’s current installation, Dopamine Dressing. According to the exhibition’s description, Lee was inspired by chromotherapy and the “dopamine dressing” trend of 2020, in which individuals dressed in bright colors and bold textures as a way to boost their mood. In Dopamine Dressing, Lee explores the possibility of chemically altering the viewer’s brain using different visual stimuli to produce feelings of happiness.

 For me, when I initially saw Lee’s art in the window of the UMMA over the course of its installation, my reaction was negative. In passing, they looked haphazardly constructed, some appearing to collapse in on themselves under the weight of their many layers of sickly pastel glaze. During my time with the sculptures on Saturday, however, I had the opportunity to see how each piece was, in fact, meticulously crafted with different patterns and techniques reoccurring throughout the collection. Lee’s repeated use of patterns like grids, scallops, and interlocking circles, mostly carved into either triangular or semicircular slabs of clay, solidified an overarching theme for the exhibition. Certain glazing techniques also repeat, with some sculptures appearing as though thick glaze was applied with a piping bag, others as if the edges of the sculptures were repeatedly dipped in different glazes. In many places, glaze oozes down the sides of the ceramics, looking like massive, sugary dollops of frosting.

The effect was visual decadence. While the inspiration for the installation may have been fashion, the sculptures heaped with pastel-colored glazes brought to mind cakes piled high with buttercream. There was a sense of maximalism: on top of the already complex structures and their glazing, some featured gold leaf, or iridescent patches that mimicked mother-of-pearl. For me, the gallery somehow elicited a kind of greediness, the feeling I get when I’m shopping and walk past piles of fast fashion clothing and I have force myself not to buy everything I lay eyes on. In this sense, I connect with Lee’s intention for the work. In some notes on the exhibition, Lee writes that the technique she used in firing and re-firing the sculptures almost to collapse connects with the fleeting nature of the bursts of dopamine we experience while taking in the artwork. Similarly, the culture of waste inherent in the fashion industry from which Lee took inspiration offers us only momentary happiness.

PREVIEW: Dopamine Dressing

Ella Larsen Leave a comment

What: an exhibition of YehRim Lee’s clay and metal sculptures inspired by the “dopamine dressing” fashion trend

When: December 17, 2022 – August 27, 2023

Where: UMMA, Irving Stenn, Jr. Family Gallery

Over the course of the last few weeks of fall semester, on my morning walks past the UMMA, when the lights inside the Irving Stenn, Jr. Family Gallery were on but it was still dark out, I had the opportunity to watch this exhibition being assembled as if in a stop-motion film. First the walls were painted pink (a shade which looks suspiciously like Baker Miller pink or Cool Down Pink, colors supposedly shown to reduce hostility and violent behavior). The title of the exhibition and a description were painted on the window facing Tisch hall. Geometric pedestals were constructed and then the sculptures themselves appeared, at first clustered together on folding tables. Admittedly, in those first days, my initial reaction to the art was negative. The sculptures made me a bit uncomfortable, with their bubbling textures and pastel colors smearing into one another. When I read the description on the gallery window and on UMMA’s website, I was surprised that YehRim Lee’s intent was to explore how colors and textures could spark joy in a viewer–and became interested in spending more time with her work to unpack my initial reactions. I look forward to visiting the exhibition this Saturday and sharing my musings with you!

REVIEW: RC Student Studio Arts Invitational Opening Reception

fragolina Leave a comment

On a busy Friday the 13th, the Residential College’s art gallery opened its doors to show off several lucky students’ work. Granted, this exhibition is invitational and students were encouraged to drop off their works by their own hands, but we’re all pretty lucky to have this opportunity. All work from this exhibition is done by students taking RC studio arts courses and who have elected to show some of their work: ceramics, printmaking, sculpture, photography, and drawing. Individual works are not labeled, though a placard listing each contributing student rests among the artwork.

Even after four years at UM and several classes in East Quad, I’ve somehow never been inside this small gallery. It felt roomier than I expected, in a way that maximized the intimacy of the space. While I roamed around alongside a few other students, I still felt that I had plenty of time and space to admire the art on display.

Prints and drawings color the long wall and give it life. Several pieces were more political than others, though holistically mixing textures and adding to said life. A piece with a person stretching to reach their foot says “Let me live” beside a different piece shouting “The first pride was a riot” in stark contrast; a piece with an image of a gun and “Never again” sits above one of a mountain. I liked seeing how the creative minds of classmates look beside each other and how the individual pieces work into the whole. Despite so many different approaches, it all worked so well together.

From there, the gallery moves into sculpture and ceramics. A series of patterned blocks make a nice juxtaposition with a smooth and more organic-looking shape. Surrounding it, wire sculptures make shadows on the walls, reminding me of various works by Alexander Calder and their placements in other galleries. Mixed-media sculptures rest in the middle of the room: one being a sculpted human heart held up by wires attached to a three-dimensional frame.

Opposite the prints, ceramic vases and series give the walls texture among another color print and several black and white photos. I especially liked the glaze techniques on the smooth vases and the patterns that the artists were able to create — and I really loved the leaf patterns on one of them, with 3D ceramic leaves crawling around its rim. It was calming to view.

One of the walls of this gallery is a large window, so people can glance at art while walking past. Between that window and the rest of the gallery, exhibition space was definitely maximized by adding other walls. I liked this because of the chance given to see work during its closing hours: different types of work are displayed together, ceramic and photo in particular, giving passersby a glimpse into what the rest of the gallery has to offer.

My own work is on display as well (photos and poems teamed together). I’m taking the black and white photography course this semester, so I recognized some of the photos and series of photos from my peers. I haven’t been able to see the other section’s photos until this exhibit, and I enjoyed seeing what they’ve been coming up with for certain projects. Their displays both juxtaposed and mirrored the prints coloring the opposite wall: several different artists with different approaches/subjects adding to one array that still works holistically.

Part of me wished that each piece was individually labeled with titles and/or artist statements so I could see what some of the artists had conceptualized, but I also liked that they stood alone. This element truly added to the idea that art can have as many meanings as people who see it, and sometimes it’s fun to make your own thoughts separate from what the artist wants you to think.

This exhibition of student work is on display until the April 27th, so you have plenty of time to go see these wonderful pieces! The gallery is always free, and open M-F from 10am-5pm. If you’d like to one day have your work shown in an exhibit like this, consider taking an RC studio arts course. Some seats are open to non-RC students.

And, for those who also have their work exhibited — truly great work! I hope you’re as excited as I am to have something original shown in a nice gallery space.

PREVIEW: RC Student Studio Arts Invitational Opening Reception

fragolina Leave a comment

Maybe you’ve been taking studio art classes in the Residential College, or maybe you have friends (such as yours truly) who have, or maybe you’ll be around East Quad at some point this month with art on the mind. Maybe you’ve been itching to see student photography, ceramics, drawing, printmaking, and sculpture all in the same little space.

Lucky for you, the RC Art Gallery will be full of student work from various RCARTS courses from the 13th-27th of April, completely free to browse. The gallery and student exhibition will open with a reception on Friday, the 13th of April from 4-6pm — also free and with refreshments! The gallery is just to the right of the East University entrance when you first walk in and is usually open M-F 10am-5pm, special exception for this event.

Date: Friday, April 13th, 2018
Time: 4-6pm
Location: East Quad’s RC Art Gallery

*Featured image credit: “Date Night” by Henry Schreibman