AUGUST 7, 2018 - SEPTEMBER 8, 2018

CLOSING RECEPTION: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7th, 5-7 PM

We are pleased to present our August 2018 Featured Artist Exhibition, Anecdotes, showcasing the functional pottery of New Hampshire based artist Maureen Mills. Please join us for a closing reception on Friday, September 7th from 5-7 pm

Maureen’s love of surface design and decoration is well documented in her book Surface Design for Ceramics published by Lark Books in 2008, which has led her to teaching workshops across the country on the topic. When she is not teaching or advising or doing a long list of other Ceramics Department Chair’s duties at the New Hampshire Institute of Art in Manchester, she is a studio potter with her husband Steven Zoldak in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

She exhibits across the country and internationally. As a member of the International Symposium on Ceramic Art Education and Exchange, Maureen has taken groups of faculty and students to Japan, China and England where she presented papers, offered workshops and offered demonstrations of her techniques.

Maureen is a recipient of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation’s Artist Advancement Grant and was awarded a Fellowship in 2012 by the New Hampshire Council on the Arts. In 2014 she received the Alumni Achievement Award in Art from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she earned her Master of Fine Art degree in Ceramics and Drawing.

"I continue to explore the contradictions of layered surface techniques in the wood firing process, yielding ornamentation that appears to overflow the swelling surfaces of strong forms. Fired in a wood-burning kiln, the surface can become nearly obliterated with melting ash, strengthening the visual impact through the use of glazes that are responsive to an enigmatic firing process uniting form and pattern rather than exaggerating it. The contribution of the firing process itself yields a body of work that exemplifies a synthesis of ongoing European, Asian and American influences.

Recent work examines the relationship between surface design and transitional language to create graphic imagery. Text is incorporated as a compositional element inviting the viewer into each piece by establishing an immediate and identifiable sense of familiarity through the concept of language, creating a synonymous and universal experience through individual storytelling. The box form is utilized as a metaphor for the stories each of us holds and shares, both public and private, or even secret." -Maureen Mills