On Tuesday, Oct. 21, the Fine and Performing Arts Department held a reception for the opening of artist, Herb Weaver’s ceramics gallery titled “Ceramics – Mixed Media” at the John W. Hess Gallery in Zug Hall.
His collection featured clay sculptures prepared in different methods such as low fired stonework, high fired stonework and by pit fire and mixed media elements such as found objects. Clay is used in a kiln, which is set at different temperatures for its effect on paint, then glazed with minerals and glass to get different colors. When the cavemen would create clay sculptures by pit fire, they would dig a hole, put combustible material in it, then let it smoke for days; Weaver used a barrel, kerosene, and sawdust.
Weaver explains his exhibition as an “attempt for my artwork to be an exclamation against boredom. By taking elements or pieces of everyday life and twisting or altering them in a whimsical fashion, I intend for my work to be a welcome relief from reality.”
His clay models replicate everyday objects such as teapots, bowling bowls and birds, while he includes objects such as clothes, metal and wooden frames.
Weaver believe that “often the juxtaposition of two or more relatively familiar objects can create unique relationships, coaxing the eye and mind to unfold all the possible riddles that lie in the artwork.”
He describes that his style “tries to lurk somewhere between surrealism and distorted reality.”
According to Weaver, he creates art because he is “addicted to the process, the unexplainable urge of inspiration, the development of the idea, the construction, procedure, and intimacy with the materials, and finally the presentation. Each art piece represents my existence in bits and pieces, his struggles, happiness, questions a short story that he needs to disclose.”
There are exciting shapes, bright warm colors; there are designs of repeating patterns and a mix between asymmetric and symmetric forms. An ongoing visual theme is that there are various pillar-shaped pieces that have circular and conical shapes with a motif of groups of three. He forms different shapes with clay imitations of everyday objects and are altered into vessels for his artwork.
Weaver likes to talk about social issues. His work “Clear Conscious” was inspired by a bumper sticker he saw that said “Who would Jesus bomb?” during the Bush administration. It is a tall vertical sculpture with a circle of pillars supporting a base of a glass head, jammed between the pillars is a rock with jagged metal spikes embedded inside. Surrounding the sculpture are clay missiles which are “peace missiles.” The idea of the piece is to ask who God would kill and how no one can have a clear conscious in war.
In the piece, “American Tea Party,” there is a stand covered with Bible verses with specific passages in red font. Under the stand hang three metal bodies in chains, this represents homosexuals, minorities and women, three parties Weaver says are prosecuted in according to Tea Party ideals. He got the idea using Bible verses from artist Phil Hansen, who made a portrait of Ku Klux Klan members out of passages of the Bible to show how people can misinterpret the Bible to assert their own oppressive views.
In “Preemptive Strike,” features traffic cones, a bowling ball and bowling pins. They’re all made out of clay, which he painted afterwards. The bowling ball has a rough texture because, on it, he has every verse in the Bible that mentions the word “peace” on it. Around the piece are smaller bent traffic cones in various shades of red and orange to reference the color-coded system of the National Terrorism Advisory System introduced during the Bush administration.
Towards the end of the gallery introduction, Weaver recited a quote that his daughter found in a newspaper article: “Art should stand a part from media and entertainment, which often has the goal to not offend, art on the other hand, can offend.” The gallery will be featured until Dec. 12.
