Vicki Gunter
  • Ceramic Gallery
  • Writing
  • Bio
    • Resumé
    • Earlier History
  • Contact
  • Clay News

The World of Frida - Bedford Gallery - July 8 - Sept 16, 2018

8/16/2018

1 Comment

 
I invite you to explore my process as I created 
​Casa Azul - “Feet, what do I need them for if I have wings to fly.” Frida Kahlo
​My first 37 years as an artist were as a dancer, choreographer & healer. I have worked with many people in pain. As a massage therapist, I have felt many different bodies, spines, hands, feet. Now, as a clay artist, spines sometimes subconsciously flow from my hands.
 
I visited Casa Azul in 2013 photographing its vivid blue walls & green trim. Like many of us, I love Frida’s art. I imagine she was able to sustain & be true to her self, creatively, politically & sexually because of her art.
 
When I began, Casa Azul, I looked at x-rays & photos of her broken collarbone, bolts in her spine, her studio, HER…painting a hammer & sickle on her body cast while trapped in it. I felt her true ‘house’, was her rib cage & heart.  And of course, her arms, which, when faced with amputation of her leg, took flight.
click for details: Bedford Gallery 
Links to videos and blogs about my work and the Bedford Gallery:
Casa Azul at The World of Frida from OverDressed for Life - blog
City of Walnut Creek video of World of Frida
Blog by Deborah Adeyanju about my solo show - Fall 2017
Clay & Earth
What We Stand On
1 Comment

Our Poppy @ Off Center - International ceramic show

6/16/2018

1 Comment

 
Currently showing at blue line arts
in the International ceramic exhibit
OFF CENTER

Vicki Gunter's clay sculpture
Our Poppy
Eschscholzia californica 
...In Everything Series

Paper Clay, Underglazes, Stains, glass, Beeswax - 19 X 8.5 – 2017 - $1370
                       SOLD
All living organisms store genetic information using the same molecules — DNA & RNA.
​They are in …In Everything. This genetic code of molecules is evidence of the shared ancestry of all living things. DNA forms a beautiful double helix that looks like a twisted ladder. The stigma in Our Poppy is sculpted into a DNA helix. Inspired by its no-waste complexity, nature is my source & my anchor.
Picture
1 Comment

"Have You Heard Us Yet?"

6/10/2018

0 Comments

 
Jeanie Ngo's poem Soft Hands which I interpreted in clay. See all the details of this amazing show @ Abrams Claghorn Gallery
​
Soft Hands 

My mother likes to say I have soft hands.
And I reply that I’ve never known hard, manual labor.
We laugh.

We press our hands together in place of our hearts.

I wish she knew the beauty in her hardened mountain palms,
dancing needle and thread fingers,
moon yellowed nails.

She sees her hands.

I see her digging through the rubble of the
My Lai massacre of her hometown.
I see her hands begging for one scoop of plain white rice,
the daily rations on a ship that brought her from
one war torn country to another war torn country.
I see her hunched over a sewing machine at four in the morning,
piecing together tiny sequined outfits for strippers,
trying to cobble together a living.
I see her peeling mangoes, nectarines, clementines,
pomegranates, grapefruits, and always offering
me the sweetest piece.
I see her in front of the altar, praying to every god
that her daughter will have an easier life than hers.

My mother likes to say I have soft hands.

It is because hers have shielded me the best they could
from the pain of warfare, the pain of starvation,
the pain of humanity itself.
My mother likes to say I have soft hands.
And I reply that I’ve never known hard, manual labor.
We laugh.
Picture
Artist’s Talk:
Wednesday June 20, 5 -7 pm
Poetry Evening:
Wednesday June 27, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Featuring Poetry by:
Jeanie Ngo, Claire J. Baker, Lori Lynne Armstrong, Janis Hashe, Vicki Gunter, Becky Bishop White, Sandra Anfang, Kelliane Parker, Tiffany Higgins, and Nicole Rubio.
New & Original Artworks by:
Rena Charles, Julianne Sterling, Hope Armstrong, Hellenmae, Mary Andersen, Ceci Bowman, Carol Jenkins, Kirsten Piroth, Kaitlin McSweeney, Mojgan Saberi, Nour, Vicki Gunter, Suzanne Long, Anna Vaughan, and Leah Tumerman.
0 Comments

June 05th, 2018

6/5/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
Cedar Waxwing
Bombycilla cedrorum
…In Everything Series

I am always thrilled in winter when the Cedar Waxwing flocks arrive for their berry feasts!

​



Richmond Art Center
Small Works

Selections by Phil Linhares, 
former Chief Curator
of the Oakland Museum.
June 12 thru Aug. 16, 2018
Reception June 9, 5 - 7 pm

Vicki Gunter - Clay Sculpture © 2017​
Abrams Claghorn Gallery in Albany CA
HAVE YOU HEARD US YET? 
#Me Too #Times Up

Showing: June 5 – 30
Reception: Sat. June 9, 5 – 7 pm

Artist’s Talk: Wed. June 20, 5 -7 pm
Poetry Eve: Wed. June 27, 6:30–8:30 pm

If you like to research...Here's a link to my poem, Menopause. It is being interpreted by visual artists, Anna Vaughan & Carol Jenkins

I, Vicki Gunter and Suzanne Long will be interpreting Jeanie Ngo's powerful Poem Soft Hands. This  detail pic is a sneak peek of my new piece Soft Hands.

I invite you to come to the reception at Abrams Claghorn Gallery and witness the collaborations and first meeting of all 29 women artists. Come celebrate and experience what we have to say!


Vicki Gunter - Clay Sculpture - Soft Hands © 2018​ 
Picture
Humming Aquilegia
...In Everything Series

Two California favorites, Aquilegia formosa (Western Columbine) and Anna's Hummingbird, magnified 7x's their natural size in clay. The Aquilegia's long red petals swell with nectar and the hummingbird slides in its long beak & tongue.
Voila, pollination!

Richmond Art Center
Annual Members' Show

Over 200 artists represented

June 12 thru Aug. 16, 2018
​Reception June 9, 5 - 7 pm


Vicki Gunter - Clay Sculpture © 2017
0 Comments

March 22nd, 2018

3/22/2018

0 Comments

 

Three Clay Sculptures in Three Shows Coming Up!

Picture
​

Mother Nature - Canary & Elephant Series​
The Artery Gallery's  
California Clay Competition 
April 27 - May 25, 2018

​207 G St., Davis,CA 
Reception at The Artery
Friday, April 27, 2018, 7-9 PM

This piece is subtly kinetic...
I do hope you can come see her!
This series references, the canary-in-the-coal-mine as a cautionary alert of our social & ecojustice issues & the challenges of cleaning up after & removing the fossil-fueled, profit-driven Elephants in the Room.

The exhibit is part of the annual California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Art established by Natsoulas Gallery. The opening weekend includes lectures and demonstrations by contemporary ceramic artists. Many pop-up venues include numerous regional Universities and Colleges which exhibit the work of their ceramic students and instructors.
Picture

Manzanita Sky
...In Everything Series
After Nature - (27 artists!)
Art Works Downtown
April 20–June 1, 2018
Reception: May 11 • 5–8pm

The DNA genetic code of molecules is evidence of the shared ancestry of all living things. Look for the DNA helix in Manzanita Sky’s branch tips.

My intention is to share work that stirs the visceral will to face our many challenges, with hope & joy, in the beauty that is in us and all other life. Beauty that is under our feet and setting sail at our backs.
Abrams Claghorn Gallery - A very exciting project coming up in June 2018 -  My poem Menopause will be interpreted by oil painting artist Carol Jenkins. I am honored to be interpreting Jeanie Ngo's poem, Soft Hands, with a new ceramic sculpture! Nine other poems are being interpreted by eleven artists.

Two Current Shows

Picture
Path ...In Everything Series 
Yosemite Renaissance 33
Yosemite's Museum Gallery

All living organisms store genetic information using the same molecules –Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) and/or Ribonucleic Acid (RNA). They are …In Everything.
This genetic code of molecules is evidence of the shared ancestry of all living things.
 DNA forms a beautiful double helix that looks like a twisted ladder. Can you find the DNA helix in Path? Do you recognize tracks of animals & plants that share the same path & DNA? Worm? Rabbit? Mt Lion? Snake? Raccoon? Human? Bird? California Bay Laurel? Live Oak?
As a native of California, the clay state, I turn mud to stone, working with clay from the earth to defend the earth. I grew up surrounded by California hills of oaks, little family farms and creeks teaming with frogs. My family regularly camped and backpacked in Yosemite’s valley and high sierras.
Inspired by its no-waste complexity, nature is my source and my anchor, in wild places and at home in East Oakland. It can guide us, as artists and citizens, by its responses to our actions.

Picture

Wildlands ...by a thread 
Abstract Sanctuary 5
Gillia Gallery
​Verum Ultimum Gallery in Portland Oregon.
 
Abstract - existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence

​Sanctuary - a place of refuge or safety, a haven, shelter or preserve

​Is the Sanctuary of our natal Earth becoming an Abstraction to its human inhabitants?
Check out all 40 artists here!
February 10 - April 1, 2018
0 Comments

Clay & Earth - What We Stand On

9/8/2017

2 Comments

 
*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*
View this email in your browser
Clay & Earth
What We Stand On

New Work by Vicki Gunter

@ Oakopolis Gallery - Oakland
October 6 - November 18, 2017
Pallid Manzanita - 36in W x 26in H x 6in D
Reclaimed Red & White Sculpture Clays, Underglazes & Beeswax
Enjoy art that explores California's natural beauty, 
Poppy & Quail - 19in Diam. 8in H
Paper Clay, Underglaze, Glass, Beeswax  
Western Columbine - 19in H x 17in Diam
Paper Clay, Underglaze, Beeswax
... our current controversial climate ...
Mother Nature - 19in H x 17in W x 11.5in D - Kinetic!
Paper Clay, Underglazes, Glazes, Wax, Ice, Carved Tree Stump Mount 
... and play!
~ Everyone is invited to play at the Community Clay Table
& display your mud creations in the Community Mini Gallery.
 
This is a free event and there will be work affordable to all!
Begin Collecting!

~ I've been working hard to create work to share with you.
~ I now eagerly invite discussion, comment, or silent contemplation. I even bought a special comment notebook for all you shy ones!   
SHOW RUNS:  October 6 - November 18, 2017
OPENING:  October 6th .  6-9pm 
RECEPTION:  October 14 . 1-5 pm
Gallery Open:
First Friday Art Murmurs - 10/6 & 11/3 - 6-9pm
Every Saturday 1-5pm
Oakopolis . 447 25th St . Oakland CA 94612
Oakopolis
Oakopolis
Gallery
Celebrating 10 years as a Creativity Center!
Closing Soon!  If you're in LA check out this group of great artists 'til September 15th. My piece is Nan Memories Collected
Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved.
*|IFNOT:ARCHIVE_PAGE|* *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|*

Our mailing address is:
*|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* *|END:IF|*

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

*|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*
2 Comments

July 05th, 2017

7/5/2017

0 Comments

 

Please join me on opening night 
​ for an evening of live music, refreshments, 3D art & living artists!

Picture
Picture
Picture
Clay Sculpture, Nan Memories Collected by Vicki Gunter 

It is a bittersweet honor that this work was juried into the 2017 Clay & Glass Biennial. 
Nan Memories Collected is a portrait and celebration of my friend & sister-in-law, Nan Brown, a professional photographer, known for her black & white series Trailers Collected. She studied with Ansel Adams & taught his Zone System. She preferred that process & her Hasselblad 500c camera to digital.
0 Comments

October 01st, 2016

10/1/2016

0 Comments

 

Social Justice: It Happens to One, It Happens to All
Now through Dec 11, 2006 @ St Mary's College Museum, Moraga CA 
​http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/saint-marys-college-museum-of-art

Some people have requested my 2 minutes from, In Conversation With the Artists.
We were asked to answer the question of what inspired us to create social justice art.

Hello! I’m Vicki Gunter. My home and studio are in east Oakland. I work with clay from the earth to defend the earth.

For me, as a child, backpacking was the best!
In the natural world everything made sense. It was hard work. It was beautiful, sometimes scary, but simple. 

Later, I understood…food, home, clothes, tools, toys all come from the ‘clay’ of the earth.

In 1963, during the civil rights movement, I was 12, on a road trip through the southern U.S.- following riots, city after city, I was awakened & shocked by the treatment toward black people.

In ’68 at San Francisco State, besides ceramics, I was swept-up in the anti war, ecology and student civil rights movements; including the longest strike on any campus in history, resulting in the first Ethnic Studies school. 

In ’95, Pacific Lumber was planning to cut down the last 2,000 year old Redwoods. 1,000’s demonstrated, 264 of us were arrested. Too many to jail, we were handcuffed in prison buses. The 7,500 (7,472) acre Headwaters Reserve was established, protecting the last Old Growth Redwood Forest on earth.

I also worked with, Jane Brown, a pioneer in dance & healing arts. I spent 33 years working as a professional dancer and dance therapy teacher. Jane’s son, a red-diaper-baby, and my dance partner, became my husband and father of our two daughters. 

The criminal 2008 crash and Occupy! birthed this piece. Which brings us to this moment; and the vision of GutfreundCornett Art, bringing us ALL together to seek Social Justice, with my hope, that we will remember to grow, gather & consume leaving the smallest fingerprint, knowing, It’s Not One Thing…It’s Everything!
0 Comments

September 10th, 2016

9/10/2016

0 Comments

 
Social Justice: It Happens to One, It Happens to All
St Mary's College Museum of Art, Moraga CA
envisioned and curated by
GutfreundCornett Art
Changing the World Through Art

​IN CONVERSATION WITH THE ARTISTS
1:15 - 2:45 Sunday, September 18, 2016
Soda Activity Center (near the museum, check in at museum lobby for directions)
Lively discussion between artists and audience about motivations for and reactions to the social justice themed works in this exhibition.  
 
RECEPTION IN THE MUSEUM COURTYARD
3:00 - 5:00 p.m., Sunday, September 18, 2016
Picture
It's Not One Thing... It's Everything - Loss Series
​by Vicki Gunter
Showing September 18 - December 11, 2016
0 Comments

SHOWS

4/29/2016

0 Comments

 

The Artery - 2016 California Clay Competition Exhibit ​
April 29 - May 27, 2016
Reception: Friday, April 29, 2016 , 7:00 to 9:00 P.M

In Hot Water - Canaries & Elephant Series
by Vicki Gunter

Picture
Family Portraits @ Richmond Art CenterGallery: Community Gallery
Exhibition Dates: January 12 - March 3, 2016
Reception: Saturday, February 6, 2-5 pm

Nan Memories Collected by Vicki Gunter
Juror's Award
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
     




















BEASTS ON BROADWAY @ SANTA CRUZ ART LEAGUE through November 15, 2015

CANARIES & ELEPHANTS  3 - SKY BLUES                       Reception November 1, 2015

http://www.scal.org/index.php
0 Comments
<<Previous
Forward>>

    Archives

    March 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    August 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    December 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    March 2018
    September 2017
    July 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    April 2016
    October 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed