Patina is pleased to announce an exhibition of new works in clay by artist Sheryl Zacharia. The exhibition, entitled Speaking of Klee, is scheduled in conjunction with the 45th General Assembly of the International Academy of Ceramics, hosted this year in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This is just the second time, since established in 1952, that the IAC has held its biennial conference in the United States.

A conversation with clay artist Sheryl Zacharia is like talking with a fast moving train. She has ideas and stories and a creative exuberance that seems irrepressible. Her clay sculptures reflect that energy and are distinguished by their bold, organically geometric forms, glazed and fired matte with high gloss passages and color. "I approach clay like a painter, which few people do... Color plays as important a part in a piece as the surface."

Mujer Contenta

Zacharia loves quilts and uses color in a manner suggestive of them. She applies it in patterns that become the building blocks of a larger design. These are juxtaposed against fields of solid color. "I would have been a great textile designer. I love quilts and fiber...I'm making textiles in clay."

Texture is also important. Her works are mostly coil built and vestiges of the process remain in each piece. "That scalloped looking pattern on the surface, those are my building marks and I leave them. The hand made aspect is part of the beauty of the work. I don't like to hide the process." The textures and sculpted surface invite us to touch the work, too, by juxtaposing the warm, gritty surface of her clay with deeply colored, glossy passages.

Plaid Vessel

Zacharia studied painting before leaving art school to become a singer/songwriter and performer. Though she no longer paints, her fondness for abstract painting persists. She identifies Kandinsky, Diebenkorn and Klee as among her favorite painters and is shy when a comparison is offered. She has completed two residencies at New York's Museum of Art and Design and is on the faculty at Greenwich House Pottery in New York City.

INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF CERAMICS CONFERENCE

Several venues around Santa Fe will participate in New World: Timeless Visions, the International Academy of Ceramics' conference opening September 17 through September 21. The Museum of New Mexico and other galleries will also participate. For its part, Patina will present American Visions in Clay, September 17 - 24, featuring works by 15 guest clay artists, all prominent in their field. Among them are Jim Romberg, Harris Deller, Chris Staley, Linda Arbuckle and Paua Winokur.

Verne Funk "Ice Cap"

New World: Timeless Visions is organized by Santa Fe clay artist and retired academic, Joe Bova. The program offers panels, presentations, tours and lectures in and around Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico, in addition to tours in Philadelphia, New York and Mata Ortiz, Mexico. Members representing more than 30 countries have already enrolled to attend the Sana Fe event.

The International Academy of Ceramics' membership consists primarily of individual makers, supported by writers and critics, private collectors, museum and gallery curators, educational institutions and ceramic centers. The aims of the Academy are to present international contemporary ceramics around the world.