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Cleanse by Ryan Lamfers; INSET: 3 Mugs by Ben Jordan; both are among the work at Coconino Center for the Art’s annual exhibit, “It’s Elemental.”
Dina Barnese, throwing a sunflower bowl, at Gallery Z.
cess. “Depending on the medium, my process can vary a lot. In general I make some rough sketches, sculpt the piece out of a solid block of clay, often times letting the piece develop further from the original idea in response to it coming together three dimensionally. After- wards I usually pull a mold off of this form, then create the final piece from this mold.”
“The two pieces I have in this show are pretty related,” Mr. Jordan tells me when I ask him about the pieces in “It’s Elemental.” “The first are three slip casted wood-fired ceramic mugs and the other is a set of three bronze sculptural pieces. For the set of mugs, I really wanted to push myself to make something organic and free flowing but that was still a functional piece of art. The bronze pieces came after this and were again retaining this organic fleshy aspect of the mugs but translated into another form. Both of these pieces were initially sculpted in clay and were very much created with an idea of spontaneity and a free-flowing playfulness.”
I ask Ryan Lamfers to tell me what he has entered into the exhibit. “Foundry techniques were utilized in the creation of all my work in the show,” Mr. Lamfers says. “Iron, bronze, alu- minum, and copper were all used for different components in the pieces. I use the outdoors as inspiration. I inevitably have a memorable experience every time I am outdoors, some not as fanciful as others, but I am always amazed and inspired. I create whimsical sculpture using woodworking, foundry and fabrication skills in conjunction with found objects. My sculpture addresses the delicate balance between nature and industry. I am particularly interested in the ways that man once found answers in nature and how we now turn to technology to solve our problems. I am fascinated with how these changes are affecting issues such as agriculture, water rights, and global warming.”
“The inspiration for this piece came while I was building a teardrop travel trailer,” Mr. Lam- fers tells me about his piece titled, Cleanse.
“With the travel trailer, I was trying to find a hap- py middle between a home and a tent. Most modern amenities would be gone and the idea was to live minimally. In thinking about
what to include in the trailer, I also started to evaluate what amenities I enjoyed that would be impossible to include. This is when I began thinking about the claw foot bathtub and what kind of life it would have being nomadic and living in the woods. I then started to relate the water flowing out of the tap at home to the wa- ter flowing in our rivers and streams. I wanted viewers to draw a connection to the origins of this natural resource that in our time is consid- ered a give-in that will run freely from the fau- cets in our homes.”
“The last year has been very busy with work and adventure,” Mr. Lamfers says. “I have trav- eled to and participated in a number of iron pours across the country. I was very lucky to be asked to go on a Grand Canyon river trip, as a work-your-way, over the summer. The experi- ence will definitely inspire my work in the fu- ture. I am continuing to work on a public art project for NAU, which is nearing completion. Most of my creative efforts have been in the classroom. My students are doing some amaz- ing work. I have lots of ideas but have been very busy teaching this year. I hope to spend winter break in the studio creating.”
“It’s Elemental,” will remain on display at the Coconino Center for the Arts through Decem- ber 20. CulturalPartners.org
LIvINg DrEaMS
On a chilly November morning, I watch as Dina Barnese transforms a lump of clay into a bowl within minutes on her pottery wheel.
The owner of Z House Gallery, located at 2320 E. Route 66 in Flagstaff, is featured this month at her gallery. In the past, Ms. Barnese has answered my questions about her featured artists and the gallery and boutique she has dreamt up and brought to fruition, but I’ve nev- er before had an opportunity to ask her about herself and her art.
“I’ve lived in Flagstaff for most of my life,” she says. “We moved here in 1977. I went to grade school, junior high and high school here. I’m a graduate of Coconino High School. I moved away in ‘97 and came back in 2000, but oth- erwise I’ve been here.” After living in England
from 1997 to 2000, Ms. Barnese moved back to Flagstaff and began taking ceramics classes at Northern Arizona University. It was at this time that she was introduced to the art scene in Flagstaff.
She talks as she works, first centering the clay, then opening it. As her fingers press into the formless shape, a hollow appears, grow- ing as the wheel spins round and round, until walls rise from the clay and continue to build skywards.
After centering a lump of clay, she encourag- es me to sit at the wheel and attempt to throw a pot. It has been years since I last tried this, with no instruction, and the result consistently ended up with an unrecognizable, wet lump of clay somewhere on the kitchen floor or in the bowl of the pottery wheel.
As I feel the clay rotating under my hands while I work the foot petal, Ms. Barnese in- structs me on the process of building a pot. My forefinger sinks into the center and the clay begins to open up. When the opening is big enough I place two fingers on the inside and on the outside of the bowl and watch and feel as the clay rises under my hands. It is soothing and meditative. To my astonishment, the bowl doesn’t fly off the wheel, but instead, when I am done, I have a slightly lopsided bowl in front of me.
“My mom told me,” Ms. Barnese continues. “That I told her when I was in high school that someday I wanted to have a pottery studio. It’s
been a desire of mine my whole life. I love clay. Ever since I was in grade school. The first time I ever put my hands in it, I made this thing that my mom still has, this really ugly little face. One of those little things you do in second and third grade. It’s cobalt blue, and just a little face with sunken eyes and a sharp little nose. I remem- ber getting my hands in that clay and just lov- ing the way it felt.
“Since I’ve started working in it more seriously, I’ve found it is such amazing material. It’s kind of like a person: you have this material and you can mold it in many different ways and it goes through all these transformations before it be- comes what it’s really going to become. The
metaphor for me is so much like my own life.
t t
I watch as she moves about the studio. Us- ing a Pug Mill, she cuts freshly mixed clay into segments to be spun into pieces. In the short amount of time while I am there, the shelf be- side her becomes laden with new bowls.
The pottery of Dina Bernese will be featured this December at the Z House Gallery, which will be open during the First Friday ArtWalk December 7, from 6PM to 9PM. Zhousegallery. com
a TraDITIONaL HOLIDaY gHOST STOrY by Katie E. Lanting
This holiday season, Theatrikos brings the Victorian England Yuletide to Flagstaffff in a stage production of the iconic and beloved sto-
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time and again and I know we all go through that throughout our lives, and if we are open to it, we can change again and again. To me it’s a magic material. And it’s here to stay once it becomes ceramic. That’s why we fifind pots that are thousands and thousands of years old from ancient cultures. Ceramic is like stone, and it just stays. It’s kind of like a leaving a piece of yourself behind.”
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animated fifilms, live action and radio dramas, to even a Muppet portrayal. The story continues to be an important part of the Christmas sea- son for many people.
Directed by Joe Maniglia and co-directed by Jan Rominger, this particular adaptation for stage is a Theatrikos original. Ms. Rominger used the novella and other source materials to write a script that utilizes as many players as possible, particularly children. “We wanted to incorporate as many kids as we could in our production,” Mr. Maniglia explains, adding that many stage productions of A Christmas Carol do not have many children in the show, other than character Bob Crachit’s kids.
Nevertheless, the story will be familiar
18 • DECEMBER 2012 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us
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