Kate Maury, a professor in the School of Art and Design at UW-Stout, was invited to exhibit at the Eutectic Gallery in Portland, Oregon. She feels very fortunate to have displayed her work at this prestigious gallery for the ceramic arts.
Profusion, a two-person exhibit, featured Maury along with Carol Gouthro, a Seattle-based ceramic artist and educator. “Working with another female artist is important,” Maury said. “By building a broader base of artists, we add dynamism to the world.”
The exhibit highlighted the artists’ works of organic forms, mimicking delicate flowers and rich pastoral scenes. While both artists’ pieces are functional and decorative, Gouthro’s vibrant, near-erotic blossoms and vessels wildly compliment Maury’s calming and intricate wares. Seeing their ceramics juxtaposed is like hanging a flamboyant O’Keefe in a formal Victorian dining room.
Considering the shared exhibit, Maury said, “I feel these two different bodies of work were exhibited together because the main approach to organic imagery was being explored in two very different, yet dynamic ways. The theme brought us together, and it works.
Sarah Chenoweth Davis, Gallery Manager at the Eutectic, said the public’s response to Maury's work has been one of "sheer delight. A visual feast, these over-the-top embellished candlesticks and centerpieces fill the viewer up with oodles of exuberant detail […] which give us permission to indulge our senses, eat well, and celebrate with flourish.”
Maury’s whimsical ceramics, with details of natural elements including birds, flowers, seashells, and butterflies, are quite functional. “I make things that serve food or display flowers and desserts. Objects-for-objects-sake isn't what I make.”
Meant to accompany “celebratory moments”, as she calls them, Maury’s pieces are constructed from slabs of clay and embellished with sprigs which are bits of clay pressed into a plaster mold. The sprigs add detail and pattern to the form.
When asked which piece in Profusion she is most attracted to, Maury easily answered, “A Truffle Bush. It is the most intensely designed work to date for me and the scale is larger than I usually work. It truly is decadent in all aspects. A highly-detailed work for presenting chocolates, A Truffle Bush has more than ten separate cups to hold truffles and two dipping cups on top in case you need to dip your chocolate truffles in ... chocolate." Who wouldn’t be attracted to such a piece?
Maury expresses joy in exploring the capabilities of clay and how the material overwhelms the senses; the look and feel of it in its various stages.
“Clay has the ability to reveal the passions of life. I like the plasticity of the material. The way clay works in your hands and the various languages you must learn to work with it. It fires to stone but can look wet and voluminous.”
To find inspiration in her art form and expand her worldviews, Maury has traveled extensively throughout India and China, documenting local artistic practices in pottery and textiles.
“My travels have given me perspective,” she reflected. “I have seen how other people eat, worship, sleep, live, and work. There have been so many moments while traveling that I would never change or give up."
"One of the most amazing things I've recently seen is in the oldest caves in India. Monks carved for some 500 years into the hillsides to create grotto-like places to worship. The devotion of the monks and diligence to endure that type of labor astonished me. In this day and age, we know nothing of such an endeavor or pursuit.”
Maury recommends travel to all her students.
“The rewards of an American being the minority in another country is very humbling. It opens your eyes and gives a perspective that few people in the states ever really experience. Hopefully, it broadens our tolerance and compassion for others,” she said.
Considering Profusion, Maury encourages people to indulge in the richness of the arts and wishes for her students to “continue to make and exhibit their work and always be part of a community that supports them. Professional artists need an educated society where art is appreciated and purchased to enjoy. By educating people through workshops, exhibitions, and having the arts offered in our schools, people think about what makes life rich, not the riches.”
Maury has a Master of Fine Arts from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.
