Relics

For her second exhibit in Los Angeles, ceramic sculptor Cheryl Ann Thomas is showing works from a series titled "Relics." Formed through a laborious and delicate process, the porcelain pieces are deliberately over-fired in the kiln, and allowed to take on unexpected shape. The coiling process, the oldest and most direct method of forming clay, is used for all of the works in this show. It is precisely this purposeful engagement of the hand and the material that makes the sculpture appealing, as the artist allows the process to be her subject. By further allowing the constructions to collapse and take accidental form during the firing, she has created a subtle and provocative body of work. The pieces are a record of the interaction; they become relics of the daily artistic engagement.

Thomas is a graduate of Art Center College of Design, and has emerged in the past three years as a ceramic sculptor. Her work has been included in solo and groups shows in New York and Los Angeles. She is included in the collections of the Long Beach Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the Gardiner Museum in Toronto.