A vibrant geological experience

Lauren Lowry
The Signal
In a landscape speckled with drilling rigs, Houston is known for its oil production. Digging a little deeper, UHCL art students found the geology of the area to be as rich a form of inspiration as the oil itself.

The UHCL Art Gallery is giving students, faculty, staff and residents of the Houston area a chance to experience geology in a unique way. Ceramic art students were given the opportunity to create their own interpretation of Houston’s geology and its impact on the environment in the future.  The exhibition, Houston: A Geological Dynamic Wedge, also provides exposure for the ceramic art program at UHCL.

“I really wanted the Houston community to be aware of what we do out here so it’s kind of a way to advertise our program because I think we have one of the best programs in the country as far as ceramics is concerned,” said Nick de Vries, professor of ceramics and exhibition curator. “The facilities are just fantastic. You are not going to find many like this.”

De Vries created the theme of the exhibition in response to the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) 2013 Conference Earth/Energy that is held in Houston this year.  The NCECA conference gives career artists the opportunity to educate other aspiring artists about ceramics.

The art gallery features artwork submitted by 26 students from UHCL.  Artists executed their interpretation of the theme while using 100 percent ceramic material. All of the pieces were made in the ceramic studio located on campus.

“I made a table setting that includes four dinner plates, four dessert plates, and a center service plate,” said Tess Stilwell, a post-baccalaureate ceramics student at UHCL and featured artist in the exhibit. “These were made on a drop mold – you roll out a slab, place it on top of a piece of wood or foam that has a hole cut in the middle for the shape of your plate, and then the slab slumps downward to make the curve of the plate. After the plates are stiff enough, I paint under glaze on them for the background color and draw my images with a stylus tool. Then the black is inlaid into these drawings so they will show up well. After the final glaze firing, I painted constellations on each plate using white gold luster.”

Stilwell shared her thoughts on the exhibition, in which she submitted one piece.

“I really enjoy seeing the many different takes on how each artist approached the general subject,” said Stilwell. “Even though there are many different kinds of work, different styles, and different artists, it’s a very cohesive show. The land of Houston itself is varied large and wide – swampy, sandy, forest, urban, etc.”

De Vries wanted to incorporate Houston’s geology into the theme to represent the area and to bring light to the diverse region in an artistic way.  After extensive research, de Vries came up with the title Houston: A Geological Dynamic Wedge because the Houston metropolis rests on the flat surface of a coastal plain, which is located on top of a giant wedge. Students could use chosen topics such as subsidence, fossilization, pollution and ossification.

“This exhibition we have in the gallery, I think, is one of the few ceramic exhibitions in Houston which really focuses on the theme,” said De Vries. “A lot of the other exhibitions are more pieces from collections and have nothing to do with the title of the theme. I think that is why ours is very important. I hope a lot of people will come out and there are thousands of people in Houston who are ceramic artists in Houston, so we are trying to get them to come out too.”

The exhibition, Houston: A Geological Dynamic Wedge, will run through Feb. 21 – April 4 in the UHCL Art Gallery.  The closing reception and lecture featuring Don Van Nieuwenhuise, director of the professional geoscience programs in the department of geosciences, will take place March 21, 5-7 p.m. in the Bayou Building, Garden Room. For more information, visit www.uhcl.edu/artgallery.

Photos and slideshow by The Signal reporter Dorian Valenzuela.