Kristen Witham, senior art major with an emphasis in ceramics and an education minor, has been busy preparing for her senior art show.
Witham is planning to graduate May 2015, but because she is spending her final semester this spring student teaching, Witham’s senior art show will take place in the fall semester.
Witham’s senior show will be a showcase of her current body of work in functional pottery. She plans to “examine the process of wood fire as a means of expressing the collaborative aspects of art making.”
A wood fire kiln is one that is fired manually with wood instead of electricity. The process takes three days of around the clock attention to keep the fire burning and the kiln hot, reaching around 2,200 degrees at its peak temperature.
There are two wood fire kilns on campus, located near the maintenance faculties.
Witham plans to enlist the help of friends and fellow art majors to work in shifts to keep the process moving. Her work won’t be alone in the kiln; about 15 other artists will have work fired at the same time.
The process begins with creating all the pieces that she plans to put into the kiln. Witham plans to make about 160 pieces to fire at one time, but will only display 20 – 30 of her best pieces in her show.
Because of the firing technique and how much time it will take, there is a lot of uncertainty with how the pieces will turn out.
“I’m not really sure what’s going to be in my show,” Witham said, “which is a little nerve wracking, but exciting.”
Along with her display of functional pottery pieces such as bowls, mugs, spoons and tumblers, there will be a video installation showcasing the process of creating the work. Katie Williams, senior graphic design major, will shoot the video.
The video will also touch on the sense of community that Witham says is her favorite thing about being an art major.
“The people in the department are like a big family and we really support each other in what we are doing,” Witham said.
This camaraderie is emphasized in this large-scale project.
“My hope for the viewers and the audience is that they will gain an appreciation for the process of wood fire and knowledge of things that they didn’t know before,” Witham said. “I want them to see that working alongside others enriches both the creative and the human experience.”
Witham’s show will be in the student art gallery from December 2 – 7, with a reception on December 4 at 5:30 p.m. Pieces from her show will be on sale at the Pottery Sale December 7 from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.
