Menu
The New Contemporary Art Magazine

Jocelyn Y. Howard’s Strange Ceramic Figures

Jocelyn Y. Howard, a ceramics sculptor, creates surreal figures that explore identity, gender, and other social topics. Howard immersed herself in ceramics after studying under Michael Sherrill in 2005. Since, she’s amassed a collection of strange and absorbing characters, all reflecting both the potential and otherworldliness of the material.

Jocelyn Y. Howard, a ceramics sculptor, creates surreal figures that explore identity, gender, and other social topics. Howard immersed herself in ceramics after studying under Michael Sherrill in 2005. Since, she’s amassed a collection of strange and absorbing characters, all reflecting both the potential and otherworldliness of the material.

“Sculpting the human form is an active and fierce rebellion for me,” she says, in a statement. “My work is a reaction to the shame society teaches us to have surrounding sexuality and gender identity. Each piece is a tangible stripping away and rejection of that shame. I use fragmented body parts often resembling dolls or puppets to emphasize play, discovery, and vulnerability. They also manifest, for me, the patchwork nature of the human experience.”

The artist typically lists materials including “clay, slip, underglaze, stain, glaze,” and “acrylic.” Many of the figures measure a few long, adding to the strangeness of these toy-like creations.

Meta
Share
Facebook
Reddit
Pinterest
Email
Related Articles
Looking like they crawled out of a strange artillery, Pierre Matter's sculptures are a science fiction-infused blend of human, animal and machine. Matter's work is hybridized in technique as much as it is in subject matter: the artist fuses found objects and scrap metals, employing a variety of tools to weld and sculpt them into new forms. Weighty and large-scale (many of the works are several feet taller than average human height), his sculptures of animals are filled with intricate, mechanical details. These cyborgs can't help but remind us of contemporary discourse about the ever-presence of technology in our day-to-day lives. For his current show at AFA NYC, "Hybrid," which opened on May 17, Matter says that he took inspiration from the ways nature has influenced science. The result is a thought-provoking glimpse at where technology has been and where it's headed.
Monica Cook's creatures are built with the discarded scraps of the world: pins, beads, telephone cords, dog toys, bottles, and more. Cobs of corn or fake hands become ribs; beads and rope become intestines. The result is a collection of sculptures and videos that appear directly tied to the natural world, even if they are a product of man’s presence.
Opening on May 2, “Degeneration/Regeneration" features the paintings of Scott Greenwalt and the 3D-printed sculptures of the collaborative team of Smith|Allen (Stephanie Smith and Bryan Allen) at Oakland’s Loakal Art Gallery. It shows how artists mediate nature through art. It’s not a new concept, not by a long shot. But it’s a fertile and relevant one. On one level, the show serves as an environmental call to arms. Any recent image of industrial Chinese cities affirms the show’s significance. On another level, it shows the way that urban folk experience digital representations of the natural world. This digitization can take place with photos and videos posted on social media. Google Earth allows viewers can visit scenes of natural or otherwise exotic climes. Finally, video games often occur in hyper accurate landscapes.
Atlanta-based sculptor Christina A. West creates busts and installations that add abstraction to realism. The pops of color present throughout her work add intrigue into each scene or person depicted. She says that each of pieces start “with an interest in interiority—the thoughts, feelings, psychology within our bodies—often highlighting the inherent mystery, or inaccessibility, of interiority.”

Subscribe to the Hi-Fructose Mailing List