After Alfred A Ceramic Homecoming.
Linda Cordell, Samantha Henneke, Kristen Kieffer, Aysha Peltz, Elizabeth Vorlicek, Adero Willard, Blake Jamison Williams
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Opening Reception: Friday, November 5, 6pm-8pm
Ceramic Demos: Friday November 5, 9am-12pm or 1pm-4pm
Early memories of playing in the mud, sand. Play-Dog and flour dough connect us to clay. These memories are what shape us as makers and continue to pull us back now to porcelain, terracotta and stoneware. Throwing clay, trimming a foot on a pot, pouring slip into a mold, and rolling a coil are quintessentially mindful activities. The impulse is to squish and form in the mud and plastic materials is that the core of our practices as artists and humans on this earth. Curiosity and tapping into the senses is critical to the work of these seven artists being in a material that can look and be transformed into anything. Their connection to material, idea and history is inherently translated to the viewer through a critical sense of wonder and discovery. The artists in after Alfred: a ceramic homecoming are linked in a shared undergraduate educational experience that encouraged a respect of what material can do in all stages of the process.
The seven artists in after Alfred: a ceramic homecoming graduated from the NYSCC at Alfred in 1995 with their BFA degrees Peltz and Vorlicek returned to Alfred to pursue their MFA degrees in the ceramics. Willard is now a visiting assistant professor at Alfred working with the next generation in clay. Vorlicek remembers Andrea Gill encouraging her to apply to exhibitions and to forge opportunities as a group with fellow Alfred graduates. In 2018 she and Blake Williams did just that when they started discussing the possibility of designing an exhibition for the NCECA 2020 conference in Richmond. Vorlicek said, “we wanted to bring together a group of strong Alfred women who worked in the field of ceramics and art, who pursued teaching careers in high school and higher education and show studio pottery and other avenues for bringing their art into the world.” Because of the pandemic, the group's exhibition was realized a year later in their online exhibition of Our Past Shapes Our Present in Cincinnati. The group is thrilled to show the common gallery with after Alfred, and to be a part of the legacy in Alfred clay.
This exhibition was organized with the help of Sharon McConnell's exhibition design class. The students researched the artists, made miniatures of all the artwork and a scale model to assist with the layout of the show, installed the work, and finally lit the exhibition. This speaks to the power of the colon gallery, as a profound teaching tool, and the relationships that have already formed with current Alfred students and alumni in a ceramic continuum.
The artist would like to thank Sharon McConnell and her class for giving us this exhibition opportunity. We would also like to thank the offered university community, including the faculty, staff, TAs, and fellow students for the support we have received throughout our time at Alfred and supporting our careers in the following years.
— Elizabeth Vorlicek
![poster graphic featuring a read bag and a green apple wrapped in similar red ribbon and exhibit details](_images/01-afteralfredposter-660x1020.jpg)
Exhibition Poster
![gallery space filled with artwork](_images/04-installationview-660x439.jpg)
Installation View
![back of person looking at three patterned plates hung on the wall](_images/06-openingreception-660x440.jpg)
Opening Reception
![Installation view seven](_images/07-installationview-660x439.jpg)
Installation View
![Installation View eight](_images/08-installationview-660x439.jpg)
Installation View
![people looking at artwork](_images/09-openingreception-660x439.jpg)
Opening Reception
![colorful vases](_images/10-aderowillard-660x439.jpg)
Adero Willard
![Adero posing next to vases](_images/11-artist-aderowillard-660x439.jpg)
Artist - Adero Willard
![plates and cups](_images/12-samanthahenneke-660x439.jpg)
Samantha Henneke
![person viewing plates](_images/13-openingreception-660x439.jpg)
Opening Reception
![three plates](_images/14-samanthahenneke-660x439.jpg)
Samantha Henneke
![patterned plate](_images/15-samanthahenneke-detail-660x439.jpg)
Samantha Henneke (Detail)
![colorful plate](_images/16-samanthahenneke-detail-660x439.jpg)
Samantha Henneke (Detail)
![patterned plate](_images/17-samanthahenneke-detail-660x439.jpg)
Samantha Henneke (Detail)
![row of plates lined up](_images/18-samanthahenneke-660x439.jpg)
Samantha Henneke
![red bag and a propped up green apple](_images/19-elizabethvorlicek-660x439.jpg)
Elizabeth Vorlicek
![people viewing red bag piece](_images/20-openingreception-660x991.jpg)
Opening Reception
![more people viewing red bag piece](_images/21-openingreception-660x440.jpg)
Opening Reception
![person looking closely at a ceramic piece](_images/22-openingreception-660x440.jpg)
Opening Reception
![ceramic folded piece](_images/23-elizabethvorlicek-660x439.jpg)
Elizabeth Vorlicek
![fountain bowl piece](_images/24-ayshapeltz-660x439.jpg)
Aysha Peltz
![Installation View twenty five](_images/25-installationview-660x439.jpg)
Installation View
![Aysha posing next to ceramic piece](_images/26-artist-ayshapeltz-660x991.jpg)
Artist - Aysha Peltz
![ceramic pointy vase](_images/29-ayshapeltz-660x439.jpg)
Aysha Peltz
![Installation View thirty](_images/30-installationview-660x439.jpg)
Installation View
![Linda posing next to animal themed ceramic pieces](_images/31-artist-lindacordell-660x440.jpg)
Artist - Linda Cordell
![people viewing ceramic piece featuring a bear](_images/34-openingreception-660x439.jpg)
Opening Reception
![ceramic piece featuring a bear](_images/35-lindacordell-660x439.jpg)
Linda Cordell
![blue themed vases and bowls](_images/36-kristenkieffer-660x439.jpg)
Kristen Kieffer
![close-up on blue vase with swirling flowers](_images/37-kristenkieffer-detail-660x991.jpg)
Kristen Kieffer (Detail)
![close-up of another blue vase with flowers](_images/38-kristenkieffer-detail-660x991.jpg)
Kristen Kieffer (Detail)
![two small blue cups with flowers](_images/39-kristenkieffer-detail-660x439.jpg)
Kristen Kieffer (Detail)
![blue bowl with flowers](_images/40-kristenkieffer-detail-660x991.jpg)
Kristen Kieffer (Detail)
![close-up on bushy flower piece](_images/42-blakejamisonwilliams-detail-660x439.jpg)
Blake Jamison Williams (Detail)
![pink box with ceramic flowers on top](_images/43-blakejamisonwilliams-660x439.jpg)
Blake Jamison Williams
![empty gallery space with artwork](_images/44-installationview-660x991.jpg)
Installation View
![person demonstrating ceramic techniques to a group of people in studio space](_images/45-ceramicdemos-660x439.jpg)
Ceramic Demos
![person demonstrating ceramic techniques to a group of people in studio space](_images/48-ceramicdemos-660x989.jpg)
Ceramic Demos