When mediums combine, the results can be beautiful. This is the case when monoprinting meets ceramics. Kathy Erteman has been combining the two for the last several years. Her interest in monoprinting developed after seeking a way to develop the surfaces of her vessels and to push her art, she said.
Instead of carving into the surfaces, Erteman began developing them outward through monoprinting. The result was a new direction and the eventual introduction of color to what had been primarily a black and white interest.
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"Monoprint Vessel 4" by Kathy Erteman.
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Even before monoprinting was introduced to her sculptural vessels, they were art. The vessels are metaphors of containment and what that can mean, said Erteman. Her work explores the parameters of form and celebrate the possibility of art and utility.
Erteman's ceramics take their lead from studio artists and designers whose works embrace a graceful aesthetic created through restrain and a "paring down," Erteman said.
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"Deep Vessel Ochre-Black" by Kathy Erteman.
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After her interest grew in developing the surfaces of her work, she looked to abstract expression painters for inspiration. This shifted her gaze and her art towards painting and monoprinting.
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"Monoprint Vessel 3" by Kathy Erteman.
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"Veil" by Kathy Erteman. Monoprint on ceramic tablet, 15 x 16 inches.
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"I have been looking to Abstract Expressionist painters Rothko, Hoffman and Gottlieb for surface treatments which has redirected my focus from form to surface," states Erteman in her Artist Statement.
"I have been concentrating on monoprints and paintings on flat clay tablets and dimensional wall square installations. Using abstraction of natural forms and the human figure, alienation and spontaneous order are the themes that drive these compositions."
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"Ghost" by Kathy Erteman. Monoprint on ceramic tablet, 18 x 16 inches.
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"Tumble" by Kathy Erteman. Monoprint on ceramic tablets, 52 x 16 x .5 inches.
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"Guanzhi 4" by Kathy Erteman, 2009. Monoprint on ceramic tablets.
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After expanding to make works on ceramic tablets and expansive wall installations, Erteman began making works on paper. Monoprint on ceramic contains the possibility that the compositions will be lost if the ceramic piece shatters during the firing process, she said. Moving to paper allows the artwork to remain and introduces another way to push her art, said Erteman.
"The main impact and motivation driving my works on paper is to deepen my practice and challenge me as an artist," she said.
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Monoprint by Kathy Erteman, 2011. 16 x 16 inches.
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Monoprint vessel by Kathy Erteman.
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Erteman is currently exhibiting in a group show at Celadon Gallery in Water Mill, NY. She is presenting small vessels with monoprints that seem to have a "quiet conversation with each other," she said.
BASIC FACTS: Kathy Erteman's monoprint ceramics are exhibited through July 15 in the "Greenwich House Faculty Invitational" at the Celadon Gallery, 41 Old Mill Rd, Water Mill, NY. Erteman is faculty at Greenwich House Pottery based in Greenwich Village, NYC. The exhibition also features ceramics by Greenwich House Pottery faculty members Julie Teresteman and Sheryl Zacharia. www.hamptonsclayart.org.
Kathy Erteman exhibits nationally. Her work has been the subject of 12 solo shows. Museum exhibitions include the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in CA, the American Craft Museum in NYC and the Oakland Museum Collectors Gallery in CA. www.kathyerteman.com
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© 2012 Pat Rogers and Hamptons Art Hub. All rights reserved.
Kathy’s printing technique is uniquely her own! I found that out after taking her workshop offered by the Hamptons Clay Art Guild in June! We were happy to represent Kathy Erteman in a three person show recently along with Julie Terestman & Sheryl Zacharia who were all faculty invited from Greenwich House Pottery in NYC.