Ashley Kim – Red Lodge Clay Center

Ashley KimSan Diego, California

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I am a clay artist.  It has been over 20 years since I became hooked on clay.  Settled in San Diego, I now have the luxury of working at my home studio and tending my garden, my two infatuations at this moment.

My formal education in Ceramics includes a BFA from Utah State University and a MFA from Indiana University Bloomington.  While my formal training has helped in shaping me as an artist, my commitment to the craft and love for the medium have grown over the years of working with clay.

 

My inspiration comes from many sources.  For me it was a simple tool, my pattern marker.  Then came scraps of laces and zippers.  This is how my current work began.  It is composed of utilitarian pots and objects made for our intimate, domestic settings, namely our home.  Domestic objects, such as vases, are new forms I am exploring. With my work, I explore different shapes and forms as different ways of thinking about and presenting food or flowers in the case of the vase.

Embellishing the surface is something that has become “fun” for me.  Textures are directly applied using the tools and materials which I have acquired recently.  Marks of stitches, patterns and zippers appear on my pots as if they are clothed.  Sometimes, there is a vague reference to the female body. Layering of colors, using stains, slips and glazes, enhance the richness and depth that I am looking for, a challenge in the world of cone 6 oxidation.

Pottery saturates our world. Yet thoughtfully made functional pottery has the potential to enrich and elevate our daily domestic experience. I want my work to play that role.