Ceramic sculptor Anthony Foo wins award at 23rd Annual “Made in California” exhibit.

May 31st, 2008.

The City of Brea Art Gallery's 23rd Annual "Made in California" Juried Exhibition awarded ceramic sculptor Anthony Foo a cash prize for this "Earthship 1" and "Within Us" sculptures.

I'm thrilled to have my pieces recognized with their different stories: "Earthship 1" explores how life came to be on Earth, while "Within Us" portrays a rough exterior protecting the soft interior within us. It is fulfilling for me to see the patrons connecting with the sculptures."

Many of the artists and patrons did not know what "paperclay" was, so for me it was part educating and promoting my medium of choice. Many of them were totally fascinated by the heavily textured pod with white crystals popping out randomly in the "Within Us" sculpture. One viewer thought I had painstakingly put each and every one in! Each pod was hand formed (pinch form). Since the form stands on essentially a point, I had to make a scaffolding (out of paperclay) to keep the pods in place during bisque and high fire. My intent was to see partially through the two outer pods into the center white pod. The tear is deliberate. 

I decided to use a metal base (a solid block of aluminum, textured with a pein hammer) to give contrast to the naturalness of the clay. As an added benefit, the whole assembly will rotate around the axis of the support rod so I can change the perspective of the piece (when I feel like it).

The "shell" of "Earthship 1" was originally made out of the heavy grogged clay, aptly called "Grogzilla", but I found out it did not have the green strength to keep its shape. I wanted a heavy texture for the outside of the pod. Paperclay saved the day; I made the shape, allowed it to dry and then added wet paperclay onto the dry paperclay shell  - wet to dry joins - to create the roughness. The brown pods were of Black Mountain sculpture clay, each one made and set aside till past leather hard and then joined to the inside of the shell with more wet paperclay. The white tentacles of Southern Ice porcelain paperclay (natural color of the clay) were formed uniquely for each pod. It is a high fire - Cone 10 - piece. The tentacles were later attached following a numbering system I set up for each pod.

I enjoy using the different clay bodies the way they are, exploiting their natural colors and textures to create the feel and mood of the piece.

To read more about "Earthship 1" please click, www.anthonyfoo.com/Earthship1.htm

To read more about "Within Us", please click, www.anthonyfoo.com/Within.htm

One Lifetime, 2008

Sculpture paperclay,
“Grogzilla” sculpture clay,
Black Mountain sculpture clay,
Southern Ice Porcelain paperclay.
Iron oxide, Cobalt oxide, Beaded White glaze.

High fire - Cone 10
24”H x 11”W x 8”D

“One LifeTime” continues my “Spirit Vessel” series. This piece was completed a couple of weeks ago (May 19, 2008) and I'm really excited the way it came out. Everything came out the way I had hoped for. Firing to Cone 10 is always very stressful for the piece and I was extremely pleased the final composition was very close to my original drawings I made.

The two pieces were fired separately in the bisque and high fire stage. I built a scaffolding out of paperclay to support the internal coil structure. The two pieces were then assembled afterwards. The coil structure actually pivots on the lip of the outer pod like a pendulum  - a planned effect/interest for the piece.

I used the Beaded White glaze on the Southern Ice porcelain paperclay coil struture and it did what it was supposed to do  - it cracked and beaded beautifully and added so much more interest and texture if I had just left it plain and unglazed.

To read more about "One Life Time", please click, www.anthonyfoo.com/OneLifeTime/htm

Special Recognition for Anthony Foo’s Ceramic Works

I'm really honored to have my pieces receive "Special Recognition" at the Upstream People Gallery “10th Annual Contemporary Art International Online Juried Art Exhibition. My works: “Daily Assault", "Empty Calories", and "Last Boat Out” were chosen from approximately 250 entries.  (Links to all my exhibited works: “Daily Assault” “Last Boat Out” “Empty Calories” “Landed” “Where Have All The Forests Gone?”)

“Foo is an accomplished ceramicist,” said Larry Bradshaw, curator of the show and professor of art. “All of his pieces are strong and significant in today’s contemporary ceramic art. “Daily Assault” is a dramatization of the effects of a daily bombardment. “Empty Calories” interestingly handles the idea of poor nourishment in some of our food choices today. Another striking piece is “Forest Gone”. And “Last Boat Out” continues with his play upon the circular element."

This piece which is the 4th in my "Earthship" series has become my favorite piece. I fell in love with the shape of the hull and started a series of them. This may be the last one I make so I decided to change the title of the piece to "Last Boat Out."

It actually has a very poignant story behind it. I have a close Vietnamese friend who shared with me how he and his family got out of Vietnam during the refugee crisis. Malaysia was one of the "processing" countries in the region who accepted these "boat people." To cross from Vietnam to the east coast of Malaysia, they would have to battle rough seas, starvation and avoid the pirates plying in that area. 

This piece depicts this courageous and perilous journey. The boat is crammed with people (pods); everyone carrying their worldly possessions (the silvery acrylic wash), hoping to make it to a better place. It makes me appreciate what we have here in America. Things that we cannot and must not take for granted - Freedom, and the desire of people to seek it, no matter what the cost.

"Empty Calories" was an impromptu creation. I had left over steel mesh from another project so I decided to see if I can make a tea set (for the Tea Set exhibition at the Irvine Fine Arts Center, April 2008) out of the scraps. 

I first created the metal sculpture, figured out how to join the various pieces of the tea pot. The tea pot and cups are double walled. The metal sculpture was then dipped into thin Southern Ice porcelain paperclay slip and allowed to dry.

Successive dippings were required to build up to the desired thickness. It is fired to Cone 04, with no glazes. The metal mesh is still inside the sculpture. The title of the piece came to me at the last moment, and I think it's very aptly named. After all, tea (without sugar or milk) does not have any calories!

To view more of my works, please visit my website, www.anthonyfoo.com
Upstream People Gallery, www.upstreampeoplegallery.com