Five up-and-coming artists from across the country will be part of the Armory’s Artist in Residence program during the 2013-14 season.
The highly competitive program attracts a diverse group of artists from varied backgrounds.
Working in the Armory’s state-of-the art studios, the Artists in Residence create at the Armory for eight months, develop a portfolio of work in their area of study, while at the same time teaching Armory students and learning from Armory faculty and visiting master artists. Their residency culminates in a show of the work produced during their tenure.
The Armory Art Center’s Artists in Residence for 2013-14 are: Jessica Brandl and Josh Stover for ceramics, Lisa Johnson for jewelry, Maggie Finlayson for sculpture and Hiromi Katayama for painting and drawing.
The Artists in Residence program is underwritten by Armory Art Center benefactor and Governing Board Member Mary Montgomery.
Brandl, a native Midwesterner, works in ceramics, drawing and painting. Set in landscapes with looming architecture, turbulent skies and misplaced objects, Brandl’s work exposes historical and eccentric places engulfed in psychological scenarios, both sinister and sublime.
Surprising spatial arrangements and disjunctive scale shifts support a voyeuristic sense of seeing things from the inside out. Brandl’s current work of functional terracotta cups and platters serve as pointed souvenirs of history and the path to American-ness.
Finlayson grew up in Ontario, Canada, and completed her undergraduate studies in ceramics in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. She has participated in residency programs at the Archie Bray Foundation for Ceramic Arts, Anderson Ranch Arts Center and Medalta Pottery, and recently completed her master of fine arts in ceramics at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Finlayson’s sculptural work uses simple and familiar materials, clay, iron, wood, leather, hair and bone, etc., to examine the impact of everyday objects in our lives.
Johnson graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington with an MFA with a concentration in metal smithing and jewelry design. She frequently incorporates techniques found in ceramics to explore service ware, jewelry and sculpture. Her passion for teaching classes of all age levels enables her to bring enthusiasm to the classroom to motivate and inspire students to develop their skills, expand their appreciation for art and find their voice.
Katayama, a native of Ibarki, Japan, studied for her MFA in the painting program at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and graduated in May 2012. She received her BFA in Japanese traditional painting from Joshibi University of Art and Design in Tokyo in spring 2008. Her love for creative art was founded in the private studio of her mentor, Renjoin Sensei, from the age of 9.
Today, Katayama’s work is created using traditional Japanese pigments and techniques; through traditional methods and materials and her belief in cultural foundations in nature. Through her work, Katayama hopes to share her culture and a little bit of herself with her audience.
Stover received a BFA in ceramics from the University of Florida in 2012. He was awarded a Fogelberg Fellowship by the Northern Clay Center, allowing him to work as an artist in residence there for one year. While there, Stover had the opportunity to teach demonstrations, assist with classes and teach a workshop at a local community college.
Stover enjoys teaching and helping others with their work. He makes functional ceramics with narrative surface illustrations that are influenced by Americana, cartoons and his childhood.
For more information, visit www.armoryart.org.
ABOVE: Jessica Brandl’s piece, House for Sale
