Collection: GLAZE HAZE

Exhibition statement

Twenty-six artists share sculptures, planters, and masks across a range of styles and interests, from pop culture busts to handheld menageries, mythical figures to macabre dreamscapes. Clay is the unifier of these varied approaches, and the Interact ceramics studio has become a sort of footloose laboratory, where artists experiment daily with form and material.  

“The approach to ceramics at Interact is non-traditional,” says ceramics instructor Jeremy Jones. “Instead of starting out with basic techniques, like pinch pots, artists come into the studio with a big vision and just go for it.” Titled by artist HML, GLAZE HAZE features monster mouths and superheroes, patterned planters and profound mustaches. Katie Bretzman builds exquisite figures and rooms with the most elemental marks. Philip Price garnishes bulging stoneware muscles with a silver-bronze sheen. Kramer Hegenbarth adds legs and eyeballs to flawlessly lumpy vessels. There’s a palpable joy in the studio that’s infused in the finished work. “I let the clay talk to me when I’m working,” writes Hegenbarth.  

GLAZE HAZE explores the intimate relationship each artist has developed with clay. “Manipulating it is very freeing,” says Angie Weller. The process, like the medium, is transformative. “Clay is difficult,” writes Scott Sorensen, who is presenting an extensive series of masks with understated features. “[...] After getting my hands and mind tired, I enjoy the relief of worry in my hands, arms, and thoughts. After my work, and I can begin to see and feel the art of emotion. I try to show it with my mask. Sometimes I wish I could wear my masks while I am being Scott.”