Vignette: Didem Mert

"Stacked Bowlin' " by Didem Mert, Mid-range stoneware, 15x9x9in, 2016, between $73-$77 each

Didem Mert lists no less than twenty separate galleries representing her in fifteen states. It is savvy marketing in any time, but especially in a period where selling art has been difficult, which may explain why she is considered one of the hottest potters working in America today. It certainly points to an ambitious creative and prodigious output, which is reinforced by the busy schedule of upcoming exhibits for the first three months of 2018:

• 33rd Alabama Clay Conference, Montgomery, AL.
• (in)Visable, to be determined (Pittsburgh, PA NCECA Conference).
• Companion Gallery Collaborations, Union Project, Pittsburgh, PA. (NCECA)
• Emerging Exhibition, The Ohio Craft Museum, Columbus, OH.
• Lillstreet Gallery Expo at 52nd NCECA, Portland, OR.
• Valentine's Day Show, Clay AKAR, Iowa City, IA.

Additionally, Mert is an Instructor at Baker-Hunt Art and Cultural Center, Covington, KY, and at Queen City Clay, Cincinnati, OH.

“Being the daughter of a woodworker, I was raised in a design-rich environment that has influenced who I am and my current body of ceramic work. Geometry, texture, and the functionality of my work emanates from this artistic environment.  Different textural surfaces are created in my work by using pinched marks juxtaposed between smooth, defined lines and edges. Bright colors paired against a soft earthy color palette create high-contrast focal points in the work. Using simple geometry, I sgraffito* line-work into the pots to heighten the formal elements of design. The simple line-work on the pots showcases food in its presentation.” 

"Bling Sunrise Tipsy Sippin' Cup" (with detail) by Didem Mert, Mid-range stoneware, 3x3x3in, 2016, $67

“My work strives to bring forth a sense of tranquility in its minimalistic design, yet there is a sense of playfulness directed through the color palette and pinched surfaces.” The playfulness is most evident in Mert’s tips sipping cups, which have rounded bottoms that might challenge a user filling them with spirits. An inability to keep the cup upright could be taken as a sign to call it an evening.

Mert will be participating in the first Southern Crossings Pottery Festival (SXPF). SXPF will take place March 2 & 3, 2018 at Copper & Kings in the Butchertown neighborhood of Louisville. The event will showcase potters in the Ohio River Region, including Lexington, Cincinnati, and more. The festival will also include the Empty Bowls Benefit Dinner @PLAY Louisville on March 3, 2018.

* A form of decoration made by scratching through a surface to reveal a lower layer of a contrasting color, typically done in plaster or stucco on walls, or in slip on ceramics before firing.

Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
Education: BFA, Ceramics, Northern Kentucky University 2014; MFA, Ceramics, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania 2017
Website: www.didemmert.com
Instagram: didemmert_pottery
Gallery Representation: Cincinnati Art Underground, Wooden Hill, (Cincinnati, OH).

"Bling Tipsy Sippin' Cup Set" by Didem Mert, Mid-range stoneware, 9x13x6in, 2016, $227

"Pur-Peel Butter Get Some" by Didem Mert, Mid-range stoneware, 7x2.5x3in, 2016, $93

"Pinky Winky Sunrise Oval Bowlin' " by Didem Mert, Mid-range stoneware,9x11x9in, 2016, $93

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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Vignette: Curtis Uebelhor

"1894 World Geography Redacted" by Curtis R. Uebelhor, Mixed media, 12x18x1.5in, 2015, collection of Jeremy Efroymson

When Curtis Uebelhor was last on Artebella (July 2014), we described him as a “mixed media“ artist, but the word “interdisciplinary” has since gained usage and seems perhaps more apt. Like so many creative, Uebelhor seems to have a restless imagination that is not easily contained by any one medium. He is best known for his found-object constructions:

“I usually strive to utilize my fondness for ‘stuff’ by being very selective in the objects I pick for individual artworks.  An idea may lay dormant for quite some before just the right object(s) is found or decided upon. Such is the case for ‘Latchkey # 2’ and ‘1894 World Geography-Redacted’. The keys, faux marble blocks, photograph and textbook had been in my possession for quite some time.”

"Willard Carpenter Home- Drive-by Archeology" by Curtis R. Uebelhor, Mixed media, 24x30x1.5in, 2017,  $350.00

“With the recent Drive-By Archeology Series I have departed from that work plan somewhat by limiting the objects used in a specific collage to only things collected at a specific site on a specific date. The series started in 2012 when I filled in as interim director of the New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art and was staying in town during the week at a private residence, and then at the USI guesthouse. I collected bits of ephemera from the yard of those houses and took photos of both places. Being in that historic town and revisiting the Historic New Harmony sites and the Working Men’s Institute and its plethora of odd and interesting collections became a starting point for this series that continues to evolve. The element of chance is an important part of these pieces; how to interpret what is found to make a cohesive composition shifts my role as curator from judiciously selecting items from an existing collection of objects to quickly jurying objects in or out of a collection as they present themselves ‘in the field’. “

“Willard Carpenter Home” and “Willard Library”, both seen here, are the most recently completed works in this series.

The artist here shares two pieces, “Focus, Please Focus,” and “Le Grande Bicentennial Tribute,” that are distinctly different from his sculptures, 2-D works that use intense color and patterns of shape in a whimsical manner.

“A sense of humor or playfulness is pervasive even when tackling serious topics like climate change, gender issues and our current political scene.”

"Focus, Please Focus" by Curtis R. Uebelhor, Acrylic on canvas, 24x30in, 2017, $300.00

Uebelhor currently has a one-person exhibition: Hunting and Gathering, at St. Meinrad Archabbey Library Gallery in St. Meinrad, IN that continues through February 20, 2018. He also has two sculptures in: The Chair: writ small - Invitational Exhibition, University of Southern Indiana, McCutchan Art Center, which runs through February 19, 2018

Hometown: Ferdinand, Indiana
Education: BS, Art, University of Southern Indiana; MFA, Sculpture, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville; Teaching Certification, University of Southern Indiana
Gallery Representation: New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art, Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana

"Latchkey II" by Curtis R. Uebelhor, Mixed media, 15x12x1.5in, 2015, $300.00

"Willard Library-Drive-by Archeology" by Curtis R. Uebelhor, Mixed media, 24x30x1.5in, 2017, $350.00

"Le Grande Bicentennial Tribute" by Curtis R. Uebelhor, Acrylic on handmade paper 26x36x1.5in, 2016, $400.00

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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Vignette: Kyle Carpenter

"It's about respecting a long tradition of craftsmen before me and discovering my own voice." - Kyle Carpenter

"Three Storage Jars" by Kyle Carpenter, Stoneware, 15x8in approx, 2017, POR

Kyle Carpenter is a full-time studio potter with over 15 years experience in the ceramic arts.  Building his skills in the tradition of folk and contemporary North Carolina potters, he combines a unique talent for illustration with the making of three-dimensional forms. Utility and beauty go hand in hand in bringing together both literal and abstract imagery, inviting the eye to relate the design and form of the pot. His goal is to create an evolving body of high quality pottery in his studio while, at a broader level, promoting the tradition of fine ceramic arts, particularly that of Western North Carolina.

"Storage Jar" by Kyle Carpenter, Stoneware, 8x8in, 2017, POR

“As a studio potter, I work diligently to make well-crafted wares for everyday people. It's seemingly less about the ‘ritual of the table’ and more about respecting a long tradition of craftsmen before me and discovering my own voice. As a contemporary potter, I often look to past traditions for inspiration. I'm interested in folk pottery of different origins. My native state of North Carolina offers a deep well of talented potters, both folk and contemporary, to look towards for inspiration.”

“Simplicity in form offers a broad surface for me to embellish with lines, patterns, and drawings. Before I was introduced to the ceramic arts, I did a fair amount of illustration before and during art school. The combination of three-dimensional forms and two-dimensional drawings was a natural fusion of both my love drawing and pottery, art and craft. It is my intention to bring together clear and abstract markings to engage the viewer to look closely at how design relates to the form of the pot.”

Carpenter will be participating in the first Southern Crossings Pottery Festival (SXPF). SXPF will take place March 2 & 3, 2018 at Copper & Kings in the Butchertown neighborhood of Louisville. The event will showcase potters in the Ohio River Region, including Lexington, Cincinnati, and more. The festival will also include the Empty Bowls Benefit Dinner @PLAY Louisville on March 3, 2018.

Also in March, Carpenter will be a part of Whorled, a Group Exhibition at the Schaller Gallery in St. Joseph, Minnesota, and later, he will be in the St.Croix Valley Pottery Tour, May 11, 12, 13 in North Branch, Minnesota.

Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Education: BFA Ceramics, UNC-Asheville, Asheville, NC, 2000
Website: carpenterpottery.com
Instagram: @kylecarpenterpottery
Gallery Representation: Schaller Gallery (St. Joseph

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"Oval Bowl" by Kyle Carpenter, Stoneware, 9x8x5in, 2017, POR

"Daisy Cups" by Kyle Carpenter, Stoneware, 4x3in, 2017, POR

"Grass Platter" by Kyle Carpenter, Stoneware, 14x1.5in, 2017, POR

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Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved. 

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Vignette: KCJ Szwedzinski

“Every time a story is retold it takes on a new life…” - KCJ Szwedzinski

"Hidden Histories I" by KCJ Szwedzinski, mixed media, 51x48x34in, 2017, POR

Storytelling is the root of history. It's how we transmit the lessons of the past, either in oral or written narrative, and therefore how we learn about ourselves. And, of course, the first “written” stories were visual: pictographs on cave walls that carried the burden of documenting entire communities through cycles.

KCJ Szwedzinski’s work concerns itself with unorthodox realizations of narrative. Much of it uses textual elements functioning more as graphic motifs as explicit linguistic communication. In fact, it is often unreadable; transparent pages layered together to obscure all meaning, as in “hidden Histories II”, or positioned at the ends of an hourglass as in ”A Measure of Time”. And if the cut out, cursive text in “An Absence That Suggests A Significant Presence” is technically legible, our desire to read it is distracted by the play of light and shadow that the artist calls into existence with the folded-page format. Even more startling is how we are forced to ponder the question of why the enigmatic “Hidden Histories I” sculpture mysteriously places four dinner settings on the underside of the table.

"Hidden Histories II" by KCJ Szwedzinski, glass, wood, metal 54x20x8in, 2017, POR

“Narration, ritual, and object are each mechanisms for the transmission of memory,” Szwedzinski tells us. “As time passes, these stories and carriers of meaning become shadowed with the recollections of others and become imbued with added social, familial, political, and moral values not originally present. Every time a story is retold it takes on a new life, simultaneously preventing that information from being lost to history while slowly transforming into something new altogether. These mechanisms for transmission slowly shape collective memory across time and ultimately have a huge hand in shaping personal identity. My work reflects on the shifting nature of narrative across time and considers the intersection of art, ethics, and atrocity.”

Szwedzinski has work in a show at OPEN Community Art Center, with a closing reception on January 26 from 6-9 pm. She also has have work in an exhibition at the Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens Ohio, OH + 5 '18: Ohio Border Biennial, which runs through March 17th. She was recently included in The Flow Magazine's Winter 2017 edition of the 13th annual Gallery of Women in Glass.

Szwedzinki exhibited frequently during 2017:

• Descent: A Collaborative Book Project, University of Louisville, KY
• Artists in Our Midst, Kaviar Forge Gallery, Louisville, KY (Juried)
• Glass Show, Gallery 104, La Grange, KY (Juried)
• Relative Perspective, Gallery K, Louisville, KY (Two person exhibition)
• Terminus: Portfolio Exchange, SGCI Archives, Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw, GA (Juried)
• Student Exhibition, Schneider Galleries, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY (Juried)
• Apocalypse: A Collaborative Book Project, University of Louisville, KY 

Hometown: Jacksonville Florida
Education: MFA candidate. University of Louisville, Louisville, KY (expected May 2019):
BA cum laude, Art History and Printmaking, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL, 2009
Website: www.kcjszwedzinski.com

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"An Absence That Suggests a Significant Presence" by KCJ Szwedzinski, book, 11x7in, 2017. POR

"An Excerpt From a Year in Treblinka" by KCJ Szwedzinski, 7x5in, 2017, POR

"A Measure of Time" by KCJ Szwedzinski, blown and sheet glass, stone granules, 10x6in, 2017, POR

"That Which Comes Unbidden" by KCJ Szwedzinski, mixed media, dimensions variable, 2017, POR

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved

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Vignette: Jim Gottuso

“Making things (and living life) is essentially a series of decisions, each one contingent on the previous.” - Jim Gottuso

"Etched Porcelain Beer Glass" by Jim Gottuso, grolleg porcelain, 3.75in diameter X 6.75in tall, 2017, $70

After several years of running his own businesses, including computer graphics and animation, fatherhood prompted Jim Gottuso to commit to the studio practice of a functional potter.  Practicality and intellectualism are wedded in how he speaks about his work.

“I am very interested in the complete cycle of creating clay objects,” explains Gottuso. “Working on the wheel has provided a framework, grounded in functionality, which allows creativity to flourish. Functional demands inform aesthetics and vice versa, creating an evolution that hopefully moves forward to better work. Imperfections that occur while aspiring to perfection are exciting and learning to let them be has been a challenge. Not setting out with strict limitations always allows some wiggle room to let something become something else. This makes each object’s creation different and the immense frontier of possibilities provides exhilaration. Wondering about the unknown results in the coming years of trial and error, a period that all potters eventually get under their belts, appeals to a sense of anticipation about the promise of the future.”

“I’ve written statements about my work over the years and as I’ve matured I’ve come to look at what I do in the broader context of what all artists, craftspeople, writers, musicians, etc. do. After attempting to distill this all down to a somewhat simple explanation and thereby jettison the inevitable “artspeak jibberish”, what I’m left with is this:  Making things (and living life) is essentially a series of decisions, each one contingent on the previous. Evidence of those moments of decision (or the concealment of said moments) represents the object’s evolution from idea to its final state. Consequently, the work done on the objects themselves can be viewed as a metaphor for existence. In the microcosm (my work), the calligraphic brushwork includes obvious examples of my decisions represented by the change of direction of each brushstroke. I try to make these quickly so that the results are almost a presentation of many decisions skirting the boundaries of my subconscious.”

"Etched Porcelain Bowl" by Jim Gottuso, grolleg porcelain, 7.25in diameter X 4.5in tall, 2017

"I've come to believe that I've always just been in love with what happens when a brush, pen or pencil makes contact with another surface and using shellac as a resist on dried, unfired clay allows the surface to be etched without losing the immediacy and spontaneity of such brushwork."

Gottuso will be participating in the first Southern Crossings Pottery Festival (SXPF), which will take place March 2 & 3, 2018 at Copper & Kings in the Butchertown neighborhood of Louisville. The event will showcase potters in the Ohio River Region, including Lexington, Cincinnati, and more. The festival will also include the Empty Bowls Benefit Dinner @PLAY Louisville on March 3, 2018.

Hometown: Chadwicks, New York
Education: BFA in Drawing and Ceramics / Murray State University 1982; MFA in Sculpture / Southern Illinois University, Carbondale 1986
Website: gottuso.etsy.com
Instagram: /jimgottuso
Gallery Representation: In Tandem Gallery / Plough Gallery / Kentucky Artisan Center / Terra Incognito / Warm Springs Gallery.

Etched Porcelain Bowl" by Jim Gottuso, grolleg porcelain, 6.25in diameter X 4.75in tall, 2017

"Etched Porcelain Bowl" by Jim Gottuso, grolleg porcelain, 6.5in diameter X 4.5in tall, 2017

"Etched Porcelain Bowl" by Jim Gottuso, grolleg porcelain, 5in diameter X 4.5in tall, 2017

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

Are you interested in being on Artebella? Click here to learn more.