so close

The Living Room exhibition opens at the CAC on May 17th, and ICFF starts May 18th. 

so this is happening

Working like mad towards our show this May at the CAC, and the individual pieces are finally coming together. After months in the studio prepping parts, making molds, and changing my mind many times our vision is starting to come to life. 

tiles again

I had this really great conversation with a collector who was interested in the "constant" in a studio practice - the way of working an artist goes back to time and time again. For me, it is the tile. It is a place to be painterly, experimental, modular, with a nod to function tied in. Tiles seem to be limitless in the form and shapes they can take - and are the perfect surface for dealing with imagery and composition. Working at Rookwood with Terence and GMD this year, we might just have a dream team scenario for tile and surface. Here is a peek into our fireplace project for the CAC this May. 

sprig

New work from the Rookwood factory - sprig molded classics and madonas. 

the honeybear

In the last few months, both Guy Michael Davis and myself have been making work with Rookwood Pottery here in Cincinnati. We are using their historical forms and molds to make new pieces that reflect our collaborative studio practice. This honeybear form (originally produced in 1948) is one of my favorites - so I started with some harlequin style cut decal ornamentation. 

Harlequin Honeybear

porcelain, decals

6" x 5" x 3" each

cut paper garland

Hand cut paper ceiling made from different projects over the last few years. (here and here) I might try to keep this up past January...

a few more

Nymphenburg Still Life installation, approx. 30' x 6' x 22", porcelain, cut paper, neon, wood, gold leaf

Alphonso Taft Busts, installation, approx. 45' x 20' x12', porcelain, decals, china paint, luster

Hy-Que Monkey(s) installation view

 Lithophane Tumblers, installation view

Wolfie and Honey Bear Vases, collaboration with Rookwood Pottery, 11" x 8" x 6", porcelain 

A few more from our show at Belger/Red Star. All the images from the show are posted here if you want to see more.

About the show: Two 2003 graduates of the renowned Kansas City Art Institute Ceramics Department return to Kansas City to install site-specific work at the Belger Arts Center and Red Star Studios. Katie Parker and Guy Michael Davis both teach at the University of Cincinnati and frequently create installations as a team known as Future Retrieval. For the upcoming Kansas City installation, Parker and Davis visited the Belger Arts Center and Red Star Studios along with the Belger Foundation art collection. Responding to the works they found, Parker and Davis are creating new work using archival molds found at the Rookwood Pottery in Cincinnati. Belger Arts Center gallery assistant Mo Dickens said, “I have known both these young artists since their sophomore year at KCAI. We stayed in touch through their MFA years at Ohio State University and I think they are making very interesting work. After seeing work that was created for the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati, we are very excited to see how these two will respond to the Belger Collection.” This exhibition is a collaboration between Belger Art Center and Red Star Studios.

fresh start

The start of something new - inspired by a road trip to Savannah two summers ago and the Telfair Museum of Art. This is the one piece in my studio that has no deadline, which strangely compels me to work on it over all other projects. And I just love starting anything really.

belger/red star studios

A couple detail images from my solo show with collaborator Guy Michael Davis at Belger/Red Star Studios in Kansas City, MO. The show opened on Friday, October 5th and was the result of almost a year's worth of work. We were inspired by Dick Belger's collection, and his interest in Tiffany lamps, Rookwood Pottery, Bruce Goff, printmaking, and the decorative arts. The exhibition runs through January 26th, 2013. More images to come.
bottom photo by Calder Kamin

do over

My Marie Antoinette monkeys - with a fresh coat of china paint. I couldn't help myself. In the wings - GMD's "The Brain".

"Flower Ball Monkeys" 8" x 2" x 3.5" each, porcelain and china paint

fade backdrops

There is now less than one month until my collaborative show with Guy Michael Davis opens at Belger Arts Center and Red Star Studios in Kansas City. Yikes. We have been trading off pressing tiles and printing new backdrops for the last couple of weeks. I can't wait to see all the bits and pieces come together on October 5th - stay tuned.

a couple more

A couple more pieces made in residency at The Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen, China. The base mimics some larger wall pieces Guy (Mike) and myself are currently making, as well as the flower mouth motif. The top piece is a PVD(ed) bear, and the bottom piece is more collaborative - bringing the horny toad was totally Mike's idea.
Golden Bear, glazed porcelain with physical vapor deposition, 7.5" x 6" x 7", 2012
Flower Mouth Horn Toad, porcelain, 8" x 6" x 7", 2012 

made in china

I just got back last night from a month long residency in Jingdezhen, China at The Pottery Workshop. Here is one image of the work that was made there - much more to come once I get all my photos together...

rookwood!

 For the last couple of months, Guy and myself have started collaborating with Rookwood Pottery here in Cincinnati. The pieces above are my take on a historic vase form from the archives, ornamented with old wolfie and Rookwood's honeybear. This is a very small start, and my head is spinning with ideas for these classic forms.

Another start: to a tile and print collaboration between myself, Terence Hammonds, and Guy Davis. Terence's image of Shirley Chisholm above - a badass if there ever was one.
Works in progress.

model citizens 2012

A detail of our installation for Model Citizens, opening next weekend as part of New York's Design Week. The show runs May 19-21@ 52 Mercer in SoHo.

flowerblob

I have been slowly building this cascading floral blob over the last couple months - as part of a larger piece for an upcoming show at Red Star in Kansas City, MO. Guy and myself have some crazy ideas to fill this massive space - and it is so nice to see them working... This is simply a studio mock up - the objects and background will change.

so nice

One of the best weeks ever. Spring break in the good studio with perfect spring weather. I have been doing everything I can to spend as much time here as possible. And I love it.

surface

A new collaboration in the works... more images to come.
(studio shot)

Small Favor

My annual Small Favor, for The Clay Studio in Philadelphia. I think these pink polka dots will show up again in the near future.

"Nymphenburg Redo" porcelain, china paint, screenprinted wallpaper, 4" x 4" x 4"
(photo by The Clay Studio)

forever

After years of making and being inspired by wallpaper, I finally (and permanently) installed some in my front hallway. It was neither fast nor easy, but I LOVE the way it looks. Guy and myself hand printed this wallpaper for a show at the Chelsea Art Museum last May, and it has been banging around the studio ever since. We are in the process of making screens for batch #2 as we speak...

kcmo

After a recent trip back to Kansas City, and an exciting meeting with Red Star, I now have Tiffany lamps on the brain. I am not sure where this will end up going, but here is a small start. 

work in progress, china paint and porcelain 

hy-que monkey

"Hy-Que Monkey(the start of the hunt)", 13.5" x 8" x 7", porcelain and china paint

"Hy-Que Monkey in Captivity" 28' x 4' x 7.5", porcelain, hand printed wallpaper, wood. 

My take on the Hy-Que Monkey, (top) following a recent series Guy and myself collaborated on for HERE currently at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts Museum. 

wallpaper trial

Hand printed wallpaper, round two. 6 layers - each separated by color or tone. This is so much better than the previous method, with was SUPER slow and complicated. I think I can actually print more than one panel this time.

lithophane

Test #1. YES. Milled from a photo I took of Guy and Chewy last year, snapped mid yawn. This piece will be Future Retrieval's contribution to BYOB (bring your own beamer) this Friday night at the CAC, curated by Jordan Tate. I am also teaching a tile class next quarter at UC, and want to incorporate lithophanes into the coursework, so this is officially a test.

porcelain, 4.5" x 6.5"

Installation, Still[ed] Life

An overall panorama shot of my installation with Guy Michael Davis, Still[ed] Life at the Taft Museum of Art. The show consists of ten busts of Alphonso Taft, father of William Howard Taft and founder of the Skull and Bones. We were drawn to his stoic pose and the mean carbuncle on his head.

There are also five porcelain still lives, inspired by Dutch painter Balthasar van der Ast. The Taft has one van der Ast painting, and it is the only new addition to their historic collection. For more images of the show and process photos, click here.

(photos above courtesy of Jordan Tate)

up next

The show at the Taft is up and running, and I will be posting more photos soon. Guy and myself are currently working (non-stop) on our next collaborative piece, "Hy-que Monkey in Captivity" a large installation for here. at the Philadelphia Academy of the Fine Arts Museum. I snapped a quick studio shot yesterday of one of the five oval backdrops, fresh from the cnc mill here at DAAP.

4' x 2' x 1.5", handprinted wallpaper and wood

alphonso (sevres)

One of ten Alphonso Taft busts that Guy and myself designed for "Still[ed] Life" currently on view at the Taft Museum of Art. I love the way the pattern camouflages his features, and how matte the pink china paint looks. (porcelain and china paint, 12" x 7" x 5.5")

The Taft's Sevres tureen that inspired the piece.

still[ed] life

The postcard for Still[ed] Life which officially opened last Friday morning at the Taft Museum. It is a collaborative effort between myself and Guy Michael Davis, the result of almost a year's worth of work . We will both be posting images from the show over the next few weeks, so be sure to check here and here. Also, a write up in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

punk rock

I was recently asked by a friend to print a backdrop for a comprehensive display of his UK punk 45s collection. Since I have been printing wallpaper for an upcoming project in Philly, I decided to take the imagery and go with Union Jack colors for the florals. (the amazing wallpaper on the left is by Terence Hammonds)

pink noise

Pink Noise is a sound/print/ceramic collaboration between myself, Guy Michael Davis, and Gen Ken Montgomery. Ken is a sound artist, founder of the Ministry of Lamination, and runs ATMOTW from his amazing digs in NYC. We worked together a couple years ago at UC to create a sonic tour of the ceramics department, which is now out on vinyl. Guy and myself printed the record covers, while Ken worked on the record. A little bit about Pink Noise:

1/f Noise was an immersive listening performance where people were led one by one, blindfolded, down eight flights of stairs, through corridors, in and out of room with firing kilns, clay mixers, buffering machines and ventilation ducts.