I said pottery… not poetry.
The ceramic arts have seen creations come in all shapes and sizes: From bowls, plates, teapots, cups and mugs, to a plethora of sculptural forms. It seems there is nothing that can’t be sculpted out of clay. But what about words? Can clay be text? California ceramist Stanton Hunter thinks so.
Over the years, Hunter’s ceramic work has ranged from traditional functional objects and sculpture to installation and site-specific work. In every case, he combines daunting technical skill, a profound commitment to natural elements, and an investigation into the possibilities of the everyday and mundane.
Most recently, however, Hunter is using his skill to turn clay into words – or is it words into clay? – through his "Earth/Sky text translation project." Based on various poems, poetry and verses, Hunter creates wall mounted series made from clay and glass that include shapes for punctuation, colors for nouns, textures for verbs, materials for adjectives, etc. The result is a physical imagery coupled with text that speaks volumes and gives new meanings to old poems and verses.
Hunter relates to the material of clay as decomposed rock or landscape that he transforms back to landscape. Hunter’s second series of wall pieces showing at Migration "his "terrain" work) is an excellent example of this sentiment. Here, raking light expose the peaks and valleys of a distance landscape. On the moon or in the desert. Mountains or the floor of the ocean. It is graceful and organic.
We are very pleased to include Stan Hunter’s work in Migration’s "Conscious Clay" exhibit. He shows us that pottery is not all about function, form and surface. Hunter redefines what clay can be. Through his magical creativity and imagery, he allows us to read clay. He reclaims the earth and makes it new again. It is beautiful art created out of an ancient medium.
Stan Hunter lives on the west coast, but exhibits regionally, nationally and internationally. He teaches ceramics and sculpture at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, and previously ran the ceramics program at Scripps College. His experience teaching, guest lecturing and educating himself in the fields of music, Psychology and Eastern thought contribute to the aesthetic design of his pieces.
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