Photos by Pamela Bakowski/The Collegian
By Matt Koper/ne news editor
Fourteen NE students have taken a new approach to creating ceramic pieces.
The juried Anything but Pots ceramics exhibit will be on display in the J. Ardis Bell Library on NE Campus until Feb. 28.
NE art adjunct instructors Melba Northum and Mary Becker juried the show, giving final approval to which pieces students submitted would go out on display.
Northum said this was good experience for the artists.
“Students put work forward to be chosen, or not, to be put into the show,” she said. “It’s an important type of exhibition for students to go through because you could be rejected. You’ve got to kind of get used to that scenario in the arts.”
Northum said the name of the show was important.
“The title of the show Anything But Pots, obviously, was we were trying to get away from anything that looked too utilitarian,” she said.
Becker said students can vote to award the sculptors.
“We are going to be putting a box into the library for a viewer’s choice award,” she said. “So that way, anybody who goes into the library and looks over the works can have a choice to vote on one or more of the works. The two most popular works will be getting an award.”
Student and president of the NE Campus Association of Potter/Sculptors Ralph Tobin has four pieces in the show, including pieces titled “You Can Check Out Anytime” or “It’s the Woman in You.”
Photos by Pamela Bakowski/The Collegian
He said music inspires him.
“I usually work in my studio, and I’ve got music playing,” he said.
“And usually to some extent, the music that’s playing affects how I work with stuff. So I usually will pull a title from lyrics out of songs.”
Tobin said he listens to all kinds of music when working.
“I listen to everything from classical music all the way through rhythm and blues, blues, rock ’n’ roll,” he said.
Student Jaime Brogdon has two pieces in the show, titled “Nautical Orb Vase” and “Hidden Elephant Bud Vase.”
She said she was inspired to take a different approach to an assignment as well as her faith.
“For the first one, it was part of an assignment,” she said. “We did pinch pots, and I wanted to do something creative with the pinch pot. And then the other one, I started trying to incorporate my faith into my work.
“So it’s supposed to be like the elephant’s safe haven. It’s like its little home, you know, like it’s being cradled and held inside a vase.”
An artists closing reception will be held 10 a.m.-noon Feb. 28 in the library.
Photos by Pamela Bakowski/The Collegian
For more information about the exhibit, contact Northum by email at melba.northum@tccd.edu.
