Montserrat College of Art
23 Essex Street
Beverly, Massachusetts
Through January 23
CAN TRUE SPONTANEITY OCCUR WHILE CREATING WITHIN A
MEDIUM THAT REQUIRES CAREFUL PLANNING AND NUMEROUS
STEPS TO EXECUTE?
Etching, for example, is a printmaking
process that takes several painstaking
steps to complete: covering a metal
plate with a waxy acid-resistant
ground, “drawing” the image by
scratching through the ground with a
pointed needle, dipping the plate in
acid to eat away at the exposed metal,
cleaning of the remaining ground,
inking the plate, etc. When does
spontaneous creativity ever come
into play when so much planning and
technicality are required?
The answers often lie in one’s willingness to experiment while
engaged in the process (“what if I were to leave the plate in the acid
bath a little longer this time?”), and to relinquish some artistic control to the possibility of happy accidents (“what if I don’t entirely wipe the
plate of ink before running it through the press?”).
“Fixed Chaos” is a ceramics exhibition
that explores the idea that “letting
go of control does not relinquish the
artists’ authority of their medium,
though it may appear that way at
first,” according to curator Shana
Dumont. “Rather, the artists have
released their grip on the clarity of
the work’s content,” she said. Like
printmaking, ceramics is another
kind of artwork that requires, as
Dumont described, “a regimented set
of steps in their creation; kneading,
shaping, bisquing, glazing and firing
at specific times and temperatures to
set and transform the clay.”
For this exhibit, Dumont has
assembled a very talented group of
ceramicists from around the country,
each with distinct approaches to the
medium. In a field where superior
control and perfect execution are
highly prized, it is refreshing to
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