Mercer Gallery Hosting WSU Graduate Ceramics Exhibition Through November 1st
[Garden City, KS] October 15, 2024 -- The Mercer Gallery is excited to present the WSU Graduate Ceramics Exhibition, featuring the work of Wichita State University’s graduate ceramics students: Megan Messer, Branden Lawless, Jessica Lada, Carlos Palmer, Maddison Mullen, and Sloane Dyer, all under the mentorship of Ted Adler. The exhibition showcases contemporary ceramics, highlighting the innovative techniques and unique artistic expressions of these emerging artists. Visitors can explore a diverse collection of pieces, ranging from functional pottery to abstract sculptures, reflecting each student's distinctive perspective and approach to the medium.
The exhibition runs from October 10 through November 1 at the Mercer Gallery. A closing reception with the artists will take place on Friday, November 1, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., with light refreshments provided. Additionally, there will be artist talks and a ceramics demonstration earlier that day, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the art classrooms of the Joyce Fine Arts Building. This event is free and open to the public, and attendees are encouraged to RSVP to Michael Knutson at michael.knutson@gcccks.edu.
Everyone is welcome to visit the exhibition during regular gallery hours: Monday through
Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.; and Fridays, 9 a.m. to
4 p.m. For more information, please contact Gallery Director Michael Knutson at michael.knutson@gcccks.edu. 
ARTISTS INFO:
Megan Messer
Bio: Megan Messer, born and raised in central Ohio, is a third-year Master of Fine Arts candidate at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas. She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a focus in ceramics at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio in 2021. Followed by a yearlong post baccalaureate at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Megan focused originally on utilitarian objects until halfway through her post baccalaureate where she began an exploration of imagery which later turned into sculptural works in her first year of graduate school.
Artist Statement: How people experience and cope with emotions is something that has captivated me for many years. The knowledge I’ve acquired by observing how individuals express emotions and the actions they take to cope can allow for understanding, growth, and sympathy within individuals in a community. Working with clay is an important part of my life that provides a grounding experience. I am able to experience the clay in a repetitive, physical way that becomes very meditative; allowing my mind and emotions to settle into those physical rhythms and encourage those internal explorations. The vessel I chose to use for these unseen internal explorations is flora and fauna. I’ve always enjoyed being outside and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve started noticing how plant life moves, bends, grows and perseveres despite location, disease, or other external environmental factors. The resilience and determination of surviving while hanging off a cliff or bending and twisting toward a source of light are qualities I find inspiring and relate back to the shared emotional and mental states we experience. Despite what we might be going through – emotionally, mentally, physically – all of us share the ability to survive, grow, adapt, and overcome the obstacles in our lives.
Titles of Works:
Tightfisted Emergence
Ceramics / 2023
Between Truth and Self
Ceramics / 2024
Self-Inflection
Ceramics / 2024
Branden Lawless
Bio: Branden Lawless, born and raised in Southeastern Kansas, is a second-year MFA candidate at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas. After obtaining his BFA from Kansas State University in 2021, he would complete a post baccalaureate program at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In 2019, Branden attended Lorenzo de’Medici, an international Italian institute in Florence, Italy. His semester abroad would influence a short-term residency at Studio Pescarella in Pietrasanta, Italy during the summer of 2023. Working primarily in ceramic sculpture, Branden’s work explores the realities of identity, love, and unconventional life experience in his own humorous take.
Artist Statement: Rat Bastard University is my satirical depiction of modern society and the villainized powers at play such as industries, corporations, and governments. I portray the struggles and disparities between the dominant and subordinate classes that are reflective of western cultures and ideologies. I offer my queer perspectives of the ways in which low-brow aesthetics have been exploited for profit by creating flashy and colorful work inspired by pop culture, religious motifs, and street culture. My work introduces a cast of characters that explores themes of youthful arrogance and the rebellious nature of finding one’s identity in a dystopian future. The story is in the form of an epic that expands on the convergence of humanity and a new world. I typically express these ideas in the forms of small vignette-like scenes or sculptural vessels such as piggybanks.
Titles of Works:
RBU Crew
Ceramics / 2024
Jessica Lada
Bio: Jessica Lada is a Wichita native, first-year WSU ceramics graduate student, and two-time graduate of the University of Oklahoma. After a decade as a technical writer, Jessica returned to academia to follow her true passion as an artist. She is currently the Secretary and Treasurer of the WSU Ceramics Guild as well as a board member for Empty Bowls Wichita. She has worked as a scenic painter, painting sets for Roxy's Downtown, Kansas Newman University, Wichita Grand Opera, Music Theater for Young People, and Music Theater Wichita.
Artist Statement: My ceramic work draws inspiration from geographical forms and the lapidary art of faceting and carving stones. By using atmospheric firings, I embrace the natural unpredictability and variations this process imparts, adding depth and texture to each piece. These sculptural vessels are meant to evoke landscapes shaped by time and natural forces. The tactile quality of ceramics is central to my practice, and I invite viewers to engage with the smaller pieces by handling them, allowing the weight and texture to be fully appreciated.
Titles of Works:
Corrie
Soda-fired Stoneware / 2024
Stack
Soda-fired Stoneware / 2024
Mogote
Soda-fired Stoneware / 2024
Kopjes
Soda-fired Stoneware / 2024
Carlos Palmer
Bio: Carlos Palmer born in New Orleans learned from a very early age how to cook. Having worked in food service for 10 years in various positions including bartending, cooking, and serving Carlos learned the importance of presentation. An entree can be a work of art if treated appropriately. From plates to ramekins almost everything is served using ceramics. This sparked a passion for Carlos in his own works. Carlos wants users to enjoy utilizing his functional wares. Carlos graduated from Montana State University in 2022 with a BFA in ceramics. Having such close proximity to the Archie Bray in Helena there was no shortage of artists to draw inspiration and sage wisdom from. Studying under Josh DeWeese and Jeremy Hatch in Bozeman Montana, Carlos learned many things about ceramics from wood firing to glaze chemistry. Having built kilns in Bozeman Montana, Cody Wyoming and Curitiba Brazil Carlos has a font of knowledge regarding kilns and how they are fired. Carlos is a first year MFA candidate is very excited to be joining the Graduate Program at Wichita State University.
Artist Statement: Howdy! My name is Carlos Palmer, I am a potter. I specialize in atmospheric firing techniques, particularly wood fired kilns and gas soda kilns. I have harvested wild clays for use and studied glaze chemistry. Using these tools and methods I create vessels that are centerpieces for conversation and functionality. I strive to create peoples favorite household items. Handcrafted ceramics invite an interaction between user and creator. As a chef I prefer distinctive domestic pots to sterile mass-produced imported ceramics for presenting dishes upon. Nothing speaks farm to table more so than a piece of local folk pottery. I believe too many imported pieces of pottery have a larger carbon footprint. I believe we should reduce ours by fabricating domestic products. As the first plastic, I believe clay is a way for us to steer away from petroleum plastic pollution. I believe that if people hold a special connection to their items there will not be so much waste. Single use items are a detriment to our planet. We must strive to be more stringent.
Titles of Works:
Howdy Partner
Woodfired Porcelain / 2024
Nighthawks at the Diner
Woodfired Porcelain / 2024
Bubble Tumbler #1
Woodfired Stoneware / 2024
Faceted Tumbler #1
Woodfired Stoneware / 2024
Shino’s Best
Woodfired Porcelain / 2024
Drip Bowl #1
Woodfired Stoneware / 2024
Witches Brew
Woodfired Porcelain / 2024
Leopard Cup #13
Woodfired Porcelain / 2024
Maddison Mullen
Bio: Madison Mullen is a multimedia artist based out of Wichita, KS. She works in collage, painting, ceramics, sculpture, installation, and photography. Her work utilizes various mediums and techniques to approach the many facets of the modern female experience. She aims to uncover connections between media and human behavior, using printed media and historical representations of the female form to bring attention to the societal desensitization of violence against women. She was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas and is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree at Wichita State University.
Artist Statement: As I uncover and work through my own traumas of objectification and abuse, I explore a variety of methods, materials, and processes to accurately capture and curate the intimate female perspective. My methods and mediums have traversed varying phases. Utilizing printed media and appropriated imagery, I draw parallels between portrayals of violence against women in media and real-life acts of violence. Operating under the belief that the romanticization of sex and violence in pop culture desensitizes society to the severity of such issues. Contrasting to the use of media imagery, I create work absent of the female form, utilizing animals in place of women and operating under the belief that the representation of the female body is inherently sexualized and therefore corrupt. I also look to and draw reference from historical portrayals of women to reclaim the narrative and symbolism of the female form whilst exposing the dreadful history of female exploitation.
Titles of Works:
Foot Lamp
Mixed Media / 2024
Sloane Dyer
Bio: Sloane Dyer is a Native artist from the Midwest, who creates from a variety of medias. They work mostly as a painter, but have also learned some skills in printmaking, ceramics, sculpture, textile arts, and photography. They are currently pursuing their MFA in Painting at WSU and received their BFA from ESU in 2019. Growing up in the center of the United States exposes them to a lot of differing influence from around the country, and world. The centralized location provides them the opportunity for travel, exploration, and a wide array of creative opportunities.
Artist Statement: My art right now focuses on creating works that are based on how different colors represent and express different emotions, and a deeper study into the colors that convey emotion and how we as humans perceive them. I utilize contrasting colors, shapes, and brushstrokes to depict the condition of emotions, and represent conflicting emotions occurring at the same time. Emotions, like the flow of oil paint, can intertwine and bend and become new emotions, like how our brains create new neuropathways and connections. My work is intuitive, and process based. I typically let my intuition take over, so the flow of creativity is uninhibited. Much like emotions, the creative process is not linear, it ebbs and flows. I will also journal, sketch, and listen to music while creating. I have focused on a western view of color meaning and have taken into consideration that other cultures can view color differently. Even so, some colors, like red, can convey multiple emotions, and it is largely up to the viewers discernment to discover and have a unique experience by witnessing the color combinations in my work. The feelings that my pieces evoke in viewers is one of the most important aspects of my creations. I have been studying the effects of color in dreams and psychology, and color in the real world, such as advertising. There are colors that are soothing, colors that make people want to spend money, colors that aggravate, so on and so forth. By focusing on the effects of color psychologically, I like to consider my pieces, “psychological landscapes.” The smaller pieces are like journal entries, since I will make them in one sitting. The larger ones take more time and are sometimes challenging since my emotions change throughout the course of creation. In a way, my work is also about memory, and our perceived conception of how we view our own memories, and how those shape our emotions, because our current emotional states are often learned from past emotional states. I’m happy to have the opportunity to share some of my work with you, and I hope it maybe makes you think about some of your own emotional states in new and different ways.
Titles of Works:
Moving On
Acrylic / 2024
Threefold Nature of Man
Acrylic / 2024
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