Ceramics Annual of America Featured Artist - Steven Allen

Steven Allen's work in the CAA show.
GR Code: custom tile for your Business, 2011
Porcelain

What Steven says about his year in review:

"The year started out with a focus on the mechanical.  My mechanical assemblage series joins my experiences as a machinist and potter.  The similarities between these two worlds are more similar than disparate.  The wheel works much like a lathe, turning the material as it is shaped into something that is traditionally highly functional.  In my work, precision machining meets artistic freedom and when they collide it renders the final product non-functional.  It becomes form without function, as a vase holds no water, a ginger jar holds no ginger and blueberries fall through the colander.  Nuts, bolts and gears are thrown on the wheel, altered and assembled into familiar shapes.  I like glazes that have a toxic appearance and formulate them to resemble aged, rusted or painted metal further separating the work from any customary function.  I hope the viewer senses that I am honoring the traditions of potter and machinist while simultaneously rebelling against them.
Work in the second part of the year has changed again.  With the downturn in the economy and changing economic climate, many old steel mills and industrial plants have closed leaving their abandoned buildings and equipment to rust.  With this deterioration has come the inspiration for many beautiful and colorful abstract images.  My recent work tries to capture this new reality.  

And the changes continue as I have found the joy in creating repeating patterns.  Mechanical patterns are created in Gimp photo editing software, printed and transferred to Thermofax screens, then screened onto clay that is further transformed into canisters, plates, bowls, tiles and serving dishes."

 

Steven Allen's work in the CAA show.

Here is a recent blog post that features some of Steven Allen's mechanical gear sculptures.