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Red Lodge Clay Center residents hold workshops at BSC, Oct. 15-16 | Bismarck State College

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Red Lodge Clay Center residents hold workshops at BSC, Oct. 15-16

Published: Oct 08 2018
Red Lodge Clay Center
Montana ceramic artists and long term Red Lodge Clay Center residents Crista Ann Ames and Kelsey Bowen will be on the Bismarck State College campus Monday, Oct. 15 and Tuesday, Oct. 16 to share their journey as artists, creative processes and conceptual development.
 
The public is invited to attend informal conversations with the artists while they work on their sculptures in BSC's LEA Hall 221 on Monday from 8-9:50 a.m. and 1-3:50 p.m., and Tuesday from 9-11:50 a.m., 1-3:50 p.m. and  5:20-8:10 p.m.
 
Ames is a sculptor working primarily in ceramics, wood and textiles. Through the layering of mythology, iconography and personal narrative she explores how our own animal nature relates to the ways we establish and sustain personal relationships.
 
“I draw on my own experiences to explore pastoral life, animal husbandry, women’s craft and fertility,” says Ames. “In bridging the gap between myth and experience, I utilize my artistic practice to create altogether new stories that tell contemporary tales of trauma, joy and womanhood.”
 
Raised on a small hobby farm in Washington, Ames has been an artist in residence at A.I.R. Valluaris in France, Guldagergaard International Ceramics Research Center in Denmark, the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Mont., and The Clay Studio of Missoula.
 
Bowen spent her childhood in the rural California foothills, growing a strong root system of inspiration in animals and nature. She is a recent graduate of the California College of the Arts Ceramics Program. She has participated in various exhibitions with her work, including the California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Arts in Davis, the American Museum of Ceramic Arts in Los Angeles, Calif., and her BFA solo exhibition in Oakland, Calif.
 
“When I’m working with a piece, I feel in fleeting moments that it’s alive. For me, playing with my forms and creating these moments for myself are my last lingering stitches of childhood. For a moment, the fantastical objects in my world are alive and the stories I am telling are curiously possible,” says Bowen.
 
The informal artist sessions are free and open to the public.