ALUMNI BRING FIRED FORMS TO GALLERY

Current or previous students from MHCC who have continued their artistic career were invited to showcase their art in the college’s Visual Arts Gallery for the ongoing “Fire Formed” exhibit this month.

A reception was held Thursday, Feb. 7, in the gallery, where artists met viewers and interested buyers, and snacks and coffee were provided. All of the showcased pieces were fire formed – meaning they were clay-based pieces placed in a kiln at a high temperature to be hardened.

Molly Anderson, from Estacada, is a former Mt. Hood student at MHCC now supplying technical help for sculpture classes on campus. She began working with clay at age 7, when she took community classes out of Estacada High School. She has always had a tendency for art, and practices art on a daily basis, taking a more disciplined approach by drawing at least 15 minutes a day.

In her piece named “Ripple,” Anderson experiments with thin, flexible clay bodies. It allows her to have a more loose and organic form, rather than working with clay more technically as it has been done before, she explained.

“I haven’t seen people throw clay down on a board and let it be how it wants to be,” she said. “I am barely tampering with the clay; I’m just allowing it to take shape.”

The meaning behind this ripple is a “loose feeling of letting go and the beauty that can come from that, with all the colors and growth and advancement,” Anderson added. The face of the man represents the initial drop of water in some kind of body of water, which then expands into a ripple effect.

Her self-portrait took about six months. She worked on the piece in her room during the winter every chance she got.

“It was just me and a mirror” until she got to the back of the head, Anderson said. “It was an intense focus. A lot of people look at this piece and say, ‘You look so angry,’ but in reality, I was so peaceful making this piece. This shows a lot about how outward expression doesn’t always come out how you expect it to.”

It follows that in Anderson’s work, she maintains a theme of unexpectedness, in the sense that the physical aspect of it may not represent the true meaning behind the piece.

Another former MHCC student whose work is being showcased, Julie Chura, is now a tutor for ceramic and sculpture students, helping them in their artistic pursuits. She started out as a landscape artist and grew up in southern Oregon, by the Pacific Flyway “where all the migrating birds are,” she said.

In her piece “Drink in the View,” Chura said she tried to combine landscaping into functional pottery. Where she grew up in the country, she would get flocks of a thousand geese in her backyard, “so I like them flying across my work.” All of her pieces are functional and can be used in the dishwasher, she noted. She has been working with clay for seven years and it is now her preferred medium, while she does have experience with painting and drawing.

The work of these two artists, along with 10 others, will continue to be displayed through Feb. 28.

The Visual Arts Gallery, located just behind (east of) the Student Union, is open weekdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Advocate Staff