| A few weeks ago, ceramicist Austin Lindsey had an injury many would imagine
calamitous to his craft.
While attempting to break up a fight between some chickens and roosters (the
fowl fiends belonged to a professor of his), he took a tumble and incapacitated
his right hand, the one he favors, which will remain in a cast for another week
or so.
For many artists, this could only mean a compulsory sabbatical from their
work. For Lindsey, this meant a few weeks cultivating ambidexterity and a few
tries at the clay as a southpaw.
The Florida artist's dedication to his work is far from typical. But so is
Lindsey. While he did spend some time in art school, it wasn't for ceramics.
Instead, he apprenticed for some of the most renowned woodfire artists in the
country, including Peter Callas. Callas indoctrinated him in the Momoyama
aesthetic of woodfiring - what is thought to be the golden age of Japanese
ceramics.
"Sometimes a piece seems to have more life," says Elvira Peake,
owner of The Clay Place Gallery in Shadyside. "Lindsey's works are very
strong."
Peake met Lindsey through her friend and his teacher, potter Steven Jepson,
when Lindsey visited Pittsburgh to attend Jepson's wedding. When he next came to
town with his wife, he brought his pots as well. Gallery patrons shared Peake's
enthusiasm, and when she found herself with an empty slot in her exhibition
schedule, she asked Lindsey to fill the opening.
His current exhibition at The Clay Place, "Woodfired Ceramics," is
his first solo collection. Although many galleries wouldn't take the chance of
inviting a not-yet completely established artist (that designation can't be far
for Lindsey) to produce an unaccompanied exhibition, Peake felt that Lindsey's
works and talent justified her faith.
"It's nice to have younger people's works represented," she says.
"I liked what he'd brought me so far, and so did my customers."
Austin Lindsey's tea bowls are carved from solid blocks
of clay.
[3 3/4" x 5 1/4" x 4 1/4" $380.00] |
It's clear from the collection that her confidence was warranted. While Lindsey
has yet to venture to Japan, his work deftly demonstrates his understanding and
aptitude in that country's artistic sensibilities. He woodfires using pine and
oak, mixes his own clay and has embraced not only the Eastern techniques of
crafting, but the love and commitment to the arts that invariably results in
excellence.
Tea bowls are carved from solid blocks of clay and formed each with one
single smooth place for lips to rest. Platters in soothing earth tones bear
marks that tell the story of the firing process, done in a 48-cubic-foot kiln
for 40 to 60 hours. A selection of vases takes on spirit through small geometric
cut-out sections - squares, rectangles, triangles and indefinable shapes. These
animate them by giving the suggestion of mouths and other facial features,
imbuing them with expression and personality.
When Peake asked Lindsey for a resume to include with information for this
show, he told her he didn't have one. After what will definitely prove to be the
first of many solo exhibitions, he's got the start of a great one.
|
Through small geometric shapes cut into them, Lindsey's
ceramic vases take on personalities of their own.
[18"H
x 13" x 13" $500.00] |
