"More Clay - The Power of Repetition" at American University's Art Museum at the Katzen Center-2022 now available to travel

Exhibition Curated by Rebecca Cross

Featuring: Walter McConnell, Kate Roberts, Zimra Beiner,

J.J. McCracken, Kahlil Robert Irving, Bean Finneran, Vanessa Ryerse, David Hicks, & Connor Czora District Clay collaboration

 Transcending the structural limitations of clay and abandoning the material’s traditional association with function, these nine artists build powerful ceramic sculptures through accumulation, repetition, and innovative feats of construction. Abundance is their mantra, and less is not more.  “More Clay” aims to physically demonstrate the principle of one out of many, a concept often missing in today’s fractured society. 

Repetition is eternally rooted in pottery, from slip-cast molds to wheel-thrown duplicates, as well as architecture, from ancient Syrian beehive houses, to Pueblo adobes, to Djenne’s giant Mosque – which are all built with multiples made of clay. Shaped by this heritage, these artists invent fresh elements and new means to defy gravity, transforming this humble, sustainable material…dirt! into something monumental in form, scale and content.

 This exhibition speaks to the ingenuity of the individual makers and the power of assembling multiples as a formal method in itself and as a compelling vehicle for the artists to express their chosen subject matter. They explore themes that are varied and distinct: District Clay’s collaborative wall, “Homage to de Waal” reflects the ancient and modern history of pottery; Vanessa Ryerse investigates the reign of Chinese export-ware in her mosaics; Bean Finneran and Zimra Beiner address the value of human labor from its glorious effects to its obsolescence; Kahlil Robert Irving’s tiles present a bird’s eye view of racial and social inequities; David Hicks reveals nature’s cornucopia; Walter McConnell’s stupa-like monuments explore American materialism and globalization; Kate Robert’s haunting gates question boundaries and time; and J.J. McCracken’s work excoriates the reality of our two-tiered food supply. The substance is repeated and amplified.                            

 Importantly, the extraordinarily labor-intensive nature of these ceramic works adds to their inherent value. The intense discipline, patience, and skilled craftsmanship evidenced in the works, coupled with the obvious long hours required to make them, elevates their perceived worth, disregarding demands of “the market.” The act of crafting these works — inefficient by the standards of capitalism — achieves a higher purpose, a spirituality drawn from the trance-inducing nature of repetition. We are moved to share the meditative state of “flow” which the artist must inhabit for the sacred chant of making. For the viewer there is a sense of reverence for the human spirit these sculptures inspire, and an appreciation for the artists’ commitment to the principle of uniting the hand with that of time. With no shortcuts offered by technology, these sculptures stir us with aesthetic wonder. We too may wonder at the artists’ delightful obsessions.

 But there are hints at the darker side of excess. The sculptures allude to the desire to acquire and accumulate. It is the artists’ clear systems of organization and creative purpose that quash a sense of impending chaos and assuage our discomfort with the lack of moderation. The potency of these works often lies in their ability to tame an unmanageable profusion into a cohesive statement­ and balance on the edge of consumerism, greed and connoisseurship.

 Using ceramic multiples and the entrancing power of repetition to magnify and multiply their messages, these artists are united in a shared ethos of building with abundance.