The Language of Line
“The Language of Line” features a variety of ceramics as well as two-dimensional work from Lillstreet’s upcoming visiting artists Sam Chung, Josh DeWeese, and Heather Mae Erickson, and Chicago-based artist Neha Vedpathak. With an interest in cultural histories and repetition of forms, whether their work is minimalist, functional, or ornamental, these artists all explore the tactile relationship between their audience and their work.
Read a review of the show by Heidi McKenzie in Ceramics Monthly.
Sam Chung is a ceramic artist based in Tempe, Arizona. Focusing on functional pieces, Chung creates vases, pots, and dish sets that challenge traditional forms, using graphically strong 2-dimensional images to guide his hand. One image he explores again and again is the cloud motif, common in ancient Korean art. Utilizing pottery to explore a variety of cultural influences, Chung attempts to challenge and transform the way we approach and interact with pottery.
Josh DeWeese, based in Bozeman, Montana, creates beautifully formed vessels which often center around the glaze and firing as the focal point. Whimsical tea sets and organic forms are enhanced by flowing, underpainted designs beneath soda, wood, and salt-fired glazes. DeWeese’s pieces are friendly and warm, precious but inviting enough to serve their functionality with ease.
Heather Mae Erickson is based in Alfred, New York. Her functional ceramic pieces are firmly planted in the world of object design, specifically the crisp-lined simplicity of Scandinavian design. Handling each piece individually, she carefully constructs a clean aesthetic that almost appears to be made by machine. She explores the way that the user interacts with the dish as well as how the dishes interact with each other, creating new shapes and ways of arranging a table based on those forms. Much like Sam Chung, Erickson is working to break and recreate the way we interact with functional ceramics.
Neha Vedpathak is a multimedia artist based on the north side of Chicago. Originally from India, Vedpathak’s work experiments with a variety of materials, ranging from handmade paper to acrylic polymer and plexiglass, to natural materials such as turmeric, soil, and dried flowers and leaves. She often works in multiples, creating installations and drawings of repeating and evolving patterns. By exploring similar themes and ideas using a multitude of different media, Vedpathak seems to create her own vocabulary based in materiality.
