Gina Freuen --"New Works in Clay"

May 14, 2004 - June 5, 2004

Opening Reception: Friday, May 14 from 5-8 pm
Clay Demonstration by the Artist on Saturday, May 15 from 11-2

This exhibition is sponsored by Quarry Tile Co. of Spokane, WA. We thank them for their continued generous support of the arts in our region.

Artist Statement:

I have been a professionally working artist in the state of Washington for close to 30 years.  Most of those years I have supported my art through the creation and sale of one-of-a-kind porcelain clay works, and multi-media works on paper.  Once my children were raised, I went back to teaching part time, teaching design, sometimes drawing and ceramics, at Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA.  I also have remained active in the Spokane Community by creating and managing the art festival, Art Fest, for it’s first 10 years, and for the last 22 years, serving as a board member, manager and participant of Inland Craft Warnings, an annual sale and exhibition of contemporary crafts.  In the fall of 2000, I was honored for my volunteerism and presence as a professional artist by the city of Spokane as their artist of the year.

The Cone 6, porcelaineous stoneware work that Art Spirit Gallery represents is a combination of forms, all one-of-a-kind, hand painted, and highly collectable ~ teapots and water vessel forms, the added pleasures of functional drinking vessels, service bowls and trays, and large vases of multiple purpose.  Slab building, wheel throwing and press molding methods were used to create this body of work. I tend to focus on the building process, the piecing together, stretching the clay’s capabilities, trying to make the shape of the vessel its most dynamic quality.  The hand painted work is fired in my gas fired car kiln while the wood fired work that is also represented is fired in large community owned kilns around the Pacific Northwest.   My personal construction process has lent itself beautifully to the artistry of the wood and salt-fired kiln.  The surfaces of my pots that are the results of this process are a wonderful blending of the ash and fire in the kiln and the textures that I have placed together on my vessels.

This complete body of work represents a wonderful collection of whimsical, one-of -a- kind porcelain vessels, constructed of rolled & wheel thrown pieces, with richly patterned fabric pressed into them.  Their oddly shaped components form a collage.  While my forms appear utilitarian, their shapes have been stretched and twisted by fantasy that usually brings a smile to those who view, handle or use them.