Page 19 - the NOISE October 2013

Raging Clay by Rhonda Davis is featured at the ACF Gallery this First Friday ArtWalk.
tHe dreAm of tHe PLAnet
Turkey vultures circle high above the pines on one of the first sunny, warm days after a string of rain and thunder storms as I photo- graph some of the recently finished masks sculpted by Artists’ Coalition of Flagstaff member Rhonda Davis. The grass in the yard behind her home studio is littered with pots and vessels that contain some flaw invisible to the untrained eye.
In the studio on the work table is large round face of the sun, slowly drying. In all sizes from a few inches to a few feet are masks in varying levels of dryness. All these pieces and the face of the sun are the beginnings of an installation piece that the artist is readying for the First Friday ArtWalk in October at the Artists’ Coalition of Flagstaff’s Gallery.
“My art today reflects some major life chang- es; retirement, recovery as well as personal relationships,” Ms. Davis tells me. “My recent works are ceramic pieces of both masks and crystalline glazed vessels, they have been influenced by growth, both spiritually and personally. I have transformed from a place of fear and financial insecurity, to trust and faith in both a power greater than myself and a connection with people and programs here in Flagstaff. These new pieces are a reflection of transformation in my awareness and trust. They are primarily masks, with calming facial features with titles like Awareness, Hope, Faith, Courage, and Serenity.”
In addition to her passion to create original works of art, Ms. Davis also plays an active role in community organizations. “Today I find my time hard to balance between my art, volun- teering for the community, and other service work,” she explains. “I sometimes find myself being defensive of my time to make art. Peo-
ple have very high expectations especially if you are a volunteer. So I am trying not to be resentful, instead I am working at being grate- ful for what I have.”
“There are days that I feel so attuned to the Universe,” Ms. Davis shares. “My art reflects this alignment, my masks are an expression of human emotions, both happiness, as well as depression and planetary sadness. I am trying to live outside of the planetary dream of lies, both from the national media, with problems with the world as well as with our own emo- tional family dramas. I find my self-expression as a way to cope artistically.”
Though her current project is in an early phase, the artist has the final outcome of the piece visualized in her mind’s eye. She shows me the sketches she has been doing in preparation, and tells me more about The Dream of the Planet. “In the creation of my wall piece, my own interpretation of this idea is made by creating clay masks, using the sym- bol of both the Sun as the central part of God, along with shapes that represent, light, energy, and how we as human consciousness relate to each other. Spatially these forms are all fly- ing around the Sun (God) as masks (humans) representing us as individuals, but as a whole visually. I am feeling some kind of inner con- nection with a psychic change in both the universe, sun, moon, planetary alignment and spiritual change in people. I am trying to inter- pret this idea in clay, by using masks (faces) as my medium.”
As she tells me about the finished pieces, she pulls from shelves mask after mask, all differ- ent and at the same time, tied together. Masks in deep lapis shades, some coated in a sheen of copper from raku firing, some adorned with feathers or other natural elements. “My masks are made with clay slabs, usually rolled out on
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thenoise.us • the NOISE arts & news • october 2013 • 19