Clay: Body, Mind, and Soul, A ClayHouston Biennial Regional Exhibit (plus Ethereal Flow by Maryam Lavaf)

This April, The Jung Center is pleased to host ClayHouston’s Biennial Regional Exhibition in the Main Gallery. The paintings of Maryam Lavaf will also be on view in the Side Gallery.

Clay: Body, Mind, and Soul is a juried exhibition that celebrates clay artists from the greater Southwest and the best ceramics of the region.

While functional work in clay speaks to the needs of our body and spirit through the recognizable forms one uses in daily life – cups, bowls, teapots, plates, and ritual objects – nonfunctional clay works speak more to the cerebral side of ourselves through expressions of important ideas, feelings, or designs. If done well, both can transcend function and non-function and speak to the viewer on a higher plane – can in fact, speak to the needs of our soul.

Including both sculptural and functional pieces from 24 artists throughout a four state region, the show is outstanding and diverse.

The techniques and materials range from Mary Fisher’s use of solar etching plates to print on her clay, to the incorporation of antique industrial thread bobbins into the work of Terri Foltz-Fox; functional thrown and altered work by Roy Hanscom to functional slab-built work by Leonard Clay; terra cotta used in work by Elliott Kayser to porcelain used by Sharon Warrington.

For all of us in ceramics, this is an exciting, inspiring, must see show.

Painter Maryam Lavaf begins each piece picturing a sound, perhaps something as simple as the sound of a leaf dropping. Each work reveals its own logic and guide lines; therefore it is unique and ruled by its own laws. The paintings featured in Ethereal Flow are based on elements like the earth, sun, plants, and the artist’s emotional responses to nature.

For more than 50 years, The Jung Center has served as a nonprofit resource unique to Houston – a forum for dynamic and compelling conversations on a diverse range of psychological, artistic, and spiritual topics.

The Jung Center’s building was originally designed as an art gallery and mounts approximately nine exhibits of work by both established and emerging artists each year. The Jung Center is an active member of the Houston Museum District. Admission to the gallery and opening receptions is free and open to the public.

These exhibits will be on display April 2-29, 2016 at The Jung Center, 5200 Montrose Blvd. The public is invited to an opening reception on Saturday, April 2, from 5:00-7:00 pm.

Pictured above: “Body, Mind & Soul” by Anne Steacy (detail above, full image below).