The Archie Bray Foundation at Kolva-Sullivan

October 7th 2011, the Archie Bray Foundation displayed several of their artists at the Kolva-Sullivan Gallery. This gallery works entirely with artists who specialize in the use of clay. The Archie Bray Foundation or the Bray is an educational institute based in Helena Montana that provides greater emphasis on ceramic art forms, both in the contemporary and the traditional practice.

For this show, there was a diverse variety of pieces being displayed ranging from contemporary to traditional, functional to non-functional and humorous to serious. This show attracted a wide audience as well. When I attended there were anywhere from 15 to 20 people circulating both rooms and ranging from the age of infants to the elderly. However, something that tied all of these people together was the great joy that they experienced from looking at these pieces. It was enjoyable to see strangers talking and laughing amongst themselves and pondering over the art displayed before them.

Some of the pieces that were most influential to me were the piece titled Amphora by Adam Shiverdedra and Ant Bowl, Mug and Tumbler by Andrew Gilliat. The thing that attracted me the most to Amphora was the structure and how the components were opposites of one another. Constructed from porcelain and steel wire covered in rough reddish brown clay, it appealed to me that something so fragile could be paired with something so harsh. Having worked with ceramics before I can appreciate how difficult it would be to not only throw porcelain but then create it to fit with a wire mesh. Adam clearly is talented in this area and not only managed to combine these two substances but he created them to appear to be one piece. Andrew Gilliat also used porcelain for his pieces but took a more traditional approach to his pieces. The shapes of the pieces of themselves cling closely to what would be expected from dining sets. However, the thing that made these pieces interesting to me was the print on them. Running in diagonal lines, there are a series of red ants. To me this was incredibly ironic because the pieces themselves mimicked a picnic attitude but the print on them was covered in ants. This is the exact opposite of what you would want to have on your pieces for a picnic and this combination between the delicate and grotesque is incredibly unique.

.Ant Bowl, Mug and Tumbler

Andrew Gilliat


Close up of Ant Mug
Andrew Gilliat

Amphora

Adam Shiverdedra