East meets the Western Slope this fall as Sundog Gallery presents “La Mesa: Ceramics for the Table,” an exhibit showcasing pottery from South Korea and Japan to Mancos.
The show features four local artisans and three international artists, with an opening reception Friday, Nov. 21, from 4 to 7 p.m. The exhibit runs through Wednesday, Dec. 31. Admission is free and open to the public.
The gallery, at 107 W. Grand Ave., will feature works by Mancos potters Janet Lever-Wood and Jamille Cucci, along with Florida artists John and Brandie Bradford of Lucky Duck Pottery.
International contributors include Margaret Curtis (United Kingdom), Kazuya Ishida (Japan), and the South Korean duo Lee Nari and Kim Seung-yong.
According to Lee and Kim’s Pann Ceramics website (translated from Korean), the duo blend Korean tradition with modern elegance in works fired in custom kilns. Kim, the studio’s CEO and director, builds on ancient onggi techniques to create pieces that convey quiet, leisurely joy.
Kim won the 2016 Korea Onggi Contest grand prize and the 2021 Global Ceramic Strategy Product gold prize from the Korea Ceramic Foundation. He has also received multiple national craft awards.
Lee reinterprets classic forms through wheel-throwing and slab-building. She graduated from Dankook University’s ceramics program, earned selections in the Korea Craft Awards and won an encouragement prize in the 2016 Korea Onggi Contest.
Ishida was “born into a family of potters” in Bizen, Japan, one of the country’s six “ancient kilns,” according to his website. Bizen is known for its traditional, unglazed, high-temperature-fired pottery.
After training under Jun Isezaki for four years, Ishida studied in the United Kingdom. He now owns a studio in Bizen and serves as a lead resident teaching kiln making, firing and pottery as part of the Anagama Project, run by the University of Oxford.
Curtis began working with clay after visiting the home and studio of Miwa Kyusetsu XI in Hagi, Japan, in 1999, according to her website.
John and Brandie Bradford’s studio is in St. Petersburg, Florida, where John runs the Morean Center for Clay. He holds a BFA in ceramics and has been teaching and making pottery for 30 years.
Brandie Bradford began learning ceramics in her aunt’s slip-casting studio and experimented with various mediums before choosing clay.
Lever-Wood has been a potter and sculptor for 50 years. She graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara, and attended graduate school in Boulder before settling in Southwest Colorado.
Cucci is a five-year ceramics artist who attended classes in Key West, Florida. She also completed a short-term residency at a ceramics studio in South Korea.
