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ARTIST RESIDENCY
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ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
Current Resident
SAMANTHA PURZE
Fall 2021 Residency
Oct. 10 - Nov. 20, 2021
About the Artist:
Artist Samantha Purze was born and raised in Michiana Shores, Indiana. She received a BFA in Ceramics from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2019 and completed a Ceramics Post Baccalaureate Certificate at Indiana University Southeast in 2021. Sam began her professional career in 2016 when she kickstarted a community ceramics studio for The Dunes Art Foundation called “The Clay Cabin” and served as their studio manager, technician, and instructor for 4 years.
Sam has exhibited work in eleven US states and currently works as an intern for Artaxis.org, an evolving independent network of contemporary artists. She is passionate about providing communities with artistic opportunities through non-profit art organizations and many of her work experiences depict her involvement in such. Sam’s professional objective is to educate, popularize, and demonstrate the ceramic arts while developing her own work through continued studio practice.
Residency Proposal:
My work is made up of playful ceramic vessels which are embellished with drawings that loosely reference abstracted cartography. Their purpose is to ignite the discovery of tracking a line from one shape to the next, causing an exploration of uncharted territories around the vessel. I am interested in building onto this body of work by developing a series of vessels with heightened formal and conceptual considerations.
The furniture and architecture designed during the Bauhaus Movement of the 1930s, and the Memphis Group movement of the 1980s are some of my biggest influences. These odd aesthetics of composition, color, balance, implied motion and visual tension greatly inform my decisions while making pots, and I want to push this association even further.
As a problem solver by nature, I welcome a challenge and appreciate the personal development gained by trial and error, reading new material, testing different firing techniques or glazes, engaging in discussions with others, and practicing new techniques. This research will allow an opportunity for me to strengthen my body of work.
Artist Statement:
Carefully planning the collision of my interests in historic post-modernism, ceramic vessels, abstracted cartography, and intuitive drawing result in thoughtfully crafted forms full of rhythmic compositions. The work is lively with many tactile qualities, containing engineered moments of visual tension and implied motion. These informed yet spontaneous surface drawings are both calculated and inexact. Their purpose is to ignite the discovery of tracking a line from one shape to the next, encouraging exploration of the form by guiding the eye to tangible and intangible connecting points. I embrace the imperfection of human touch through tactile pinch marks, awkward color combinations, stretched geometry, long wavering lines, and repeated asymmetrical shapes. Overall, the work generates a curious experience of visual travel while celebrating useful pots.
Residency Programs
RESIDENCY PROGRAMS
OPEN CLAY STUDIO
10:00am - 1:00pm
Oct. 14 - Nov. 11, 2021
Open Clay Studio is open to current and past Art Barn ceramics students. This is an independent studio time for students to hone their skills and work on their clay projects. Artist in Residence Samantha Purze will assist with clay reclamation, firing, and distribution of additional clay. 5 pounds of clay per day is included. $2 per Ib of additional clay will be available for purchase. Class size limited to 6 students. Ages 18+
Residency Apply
RESIDENCY APPLICATION
Apply for the 2023 Artist in Residence Program. Accepting applications starting January 2023.
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